Two human arms found on Rio de Janeiro’s Ipanema beach
The sun rises at Ipanema beach, on Dec. 22, 2003.
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Two human arms were found floating in the water of Rio de Janeiro's famed Ipanema beach on Monday night.
According to the city's civil police, the arms were bound at the wrists with black tape when they were found around 7:30 p.m. local time by people passing by on the beach.
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A garbage collector employed by the city was able to pull the limbs from the water.
The arms are thought to belong to a man, but the victim has yet to be identified. Military police were also called to the scene and are investigating what could have happened.
The limbs have been sent to the Medical-Legal Institute (IML) for a postmortem examination where fingerprints were taken and sent for comparison to those in the country's databanks in an attempt to identify the victim.
The Olympic city has been under fire in recent weeks for another act of violence, when a 21-year-old American student was gang raped in a van used for public transportation near the famous Copacabana beach.
Comparisons were made to the fatal beating and gang rape of a 23-year-old student in India who was on a moving bus in New Delhi during her attack, and concerns were raised over the security of tourists who will visit Rio during the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
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