One dead after explosions near Brazil's Supreme Court

Photo: Eraldo Peres Associated Press Brazil's Supreme Court was evacuated Wednesday night in Brasília.

Agence France-Presse in Brasília

Published at 19:20 Updated at 20:18

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A person was found dead Wednesday night near the Brazilian Supreme Court in Brasilia after two explosions of undetermined origin that reverberated near the high court, police announced.

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“We can confirm that there is a body in front of the Federal Supreme Court,” a federal police spokesperson told AFP. An investigation has been opened. The body was seen at the scene by an AFP photographer.

Earlier, in a statement, the court said that at the end of Wednesday's session, “two loud explosions were heard and the judges were evacuated from the building for safety reasons.” Staff on site were also evacuated “as a precaution.”

The Supreme Court is located on the Three Powers Square, the heart of Brazilian democracy, where it faces the presidential palace and parliament.

The presidential palace is closed and no one can enter, an AFP photographer noted. The entire square is cordoned off by a massive deployment of security forces.

Leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was not at the presidential palace at the time of the explosions, a presidential spokesman told AFP.

On January 8, 2023, a week after Lula returned to power, thousands of supporters of Jair Bolsonaro, the former far-right head of state defeated in the presidential election at the end of 2022, stormed and ransacked the headquarters of the institutions on the Three Powers Square. The authorities eventually regained control of the situation.

Lula will host a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday and Tuesday, bringing together most of the leaders of the world's major economies.

On Wednesday, he is due to receive Chinese President Xi Jinping in Brasilia for a state visit.