Gunmen engaged in a shootout with police took 30 people hostage Saturday at a luxury hotel popular with foreign tourists but within hours freed the captives and surrendered to police. The upscale, beachside neighborhood where the Intercontinental Hotel is located was transformed into a virtual war zone as the 10 suspects _ armed with high-caliber rifles, grenades and pistols _ exchanged fire with police in a shootout that killed a bystander as she was getting out of a taxi, according to AP. Dozens of other suspects fled into a nearby slum where the shootout began. Spent casings from high-caliber weapons littered the pavement in front of the hotel and residents of the neighborhood said they were awakened by the shooting. The police spokeswoman, who could not be identified because she was not authorized to discuss the matter, said that the gunmen held hostages in the hotel's kitchen «but we negotiated with them.» «All of the hostages are freed and 10 suspects are in custody,» she said, adding that police searched the hotel for other gunmen but found none hiding inside. Security in Rio de Janeiro is of great concern as the city prepares to host the final of the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games. Officials have vowed to fight violence, and in the past year started an aggressive program of invading slums where heavily armed drug gangs hold sway, driving them out and creating police posts in those poor communities. The program has managed to clear drug gangs from about 10 slums located in Rio's rich southern zone. The Intercontinental is a favorite among foreign tourists, but the nationalities of those taken hostage was not immediately known.
