Police fire tear gas at angry mobs outside Olympic opening ceremony as anti-Games demos hit cities across Brazil

Police fired tear gas at demonstrators close to the Maracanã Stadium, where opening ceremony for the Olympic Games was happening

Protesters were furious over the presence of Brazil's acting president Michel Temer, and waved placards calling for his removal

In São Paulo, the country's largest city, angry crowds protested against the spending for the games while the country suffers through economic crisis

By RUTH STYLES IN RIO DE JANEIRO FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 00:19 GMT, 6 August 2016 | UPDATED: 02:15 GMT, 6 August 2016



Police have fired tear gas at demonstrators protesting close to the Maracanã Stadium, where the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games is under way.

Protesters, many furious over the presence of Brazil's acting president Michel Temer at the ceremony, waved placards calling for his removal.

Angry protest have also broken out in São Paulo, the country's largest city, where mobs demonstrated against overspending on the Olympic games during one of the country's worst economic crises in history.


A woman is helped after she collapsed due to tear gas used by riot police to clear a protest against the
Rio's 2016 Summer Olympics near the Maracanã Stadium


A Brazilian protester burns an Olympic T-Shirt during during protest near Maracanã Stadium


Police officers detain a man during a protest outside Maracanã Stadium, where furious mobs were
tear gassed by cops

Tear gas explodes near an angry mob as they protest against the Rio Olympics


Brazilian security forces stand guard outside the Maracanã ahead of the opening ceremony

Some protesters were seen burning the Brazilian flag in the street and reportedly dubbed their efforts 'the Exclusion Games.'
An eye witness told Daily Mail Online that police became increasingly heavy-handed as the protest continued and fired clouds of tear gas directly at furious locals.
Many were left with streaming eyes as a result.

On social media, one woman is reported to have had an asthma attack after being hit in the face by a cloud of gas and was treated by medics from the Red Cross.

Most of the action happened in and around Praça Afonso close to the Macaranã, although the angry crowd was unable to get right up to the stadium, which is surrounded by thousands of police and soldiers.


Police in riot gear rush in to disperse an angry mob protesting in Rio


Tear gas bombs explode near demonstrators in Rio, dispersing the crowd as police move in


In São Paulo, cops used tear gas to round up dozens of protesters who gathered near the São Paulo Museum of Art, the Folha de S. Paulo reported.

Some 50 people were detained when police intervened. There have been no injury reports, the newspaper reported.

In Rio, authorities have thrown a ring of steel around the stadium for fear of protests disrupting the ceremony — which is being screened to billions around the world.

As well as heavily-armed soldiers and military reservists trained in dealing with civil disorder, they have water cannon on standby.

But they were earlier unable to prevent the Olympic torch relay from being disrupted by a large demonstration on Copacabana Beach - with the procession, which had already passed through Leblon and Ipanema, forced to divert to avoid it.


Police takes position as demonstrators march to protest against the money spent on the Rio's 2016
Summer Olympics and the interim Brazilian president Michel Temer in São Paulo


Police officers round up a group of protesters detained during a march in São Paulo

The main protest, which lasted most of the day, saw cariocas angrily shout 'Fora Temer' [Out Temer] while waving placards demanding the return of deposed president Dilma Rousseff.

Demonstrators also rushed an official motorcade after being informed, by mistake, that Temer himself was inside.

Tonight, many of the Copacabana demonstrators had dispersed — with a group, all wearing red t-shirts calling for a socialist government, seen enjoying some of the Olympic festivities in the Port Maua fan zone.


Police officers detain a group of protesters during a march in Latin America's largest city


The crowd was protesting the spending in the Olympic Games at a time when Brazil is going through
an economic and political crisis of epic proportions


The Olympic Games have proved controversial in Brazil and will close a week before Rousseff's impeachment trial begins.

She - and her predecessor Luis Inácio 'Lula' da Silva - have been accused of being part of a corruption scandal currently engulfing state oil company Petrobras.

Adding to the country's woes, Brazil is currently experiencing its worst recession since the 1930s and is also battling a Zika epidemic.

The Olympics themselves have also caused outrage, with locals angry at the spiraling cost and the demolition of slum housing to make way for the Games complex in Barra de Tijuca.

Police fire tear gas at angry mobs outside Olympic opening ceremony as anti-Games demos hit cities across Brazil