Manhole blast near Lula rally investigated as separate incident

Manhole blast near Lula rally investigated as separate incident
Three people — two women and a man — suffered first-degree burns after a manhole exploded in an underground gallery on Avenida Paulista during a PT campaign event. They were taken conscious to Santa Casa hospital, according to reports.

Police presented the blast as an accident rather than a security or political incident. The Military Police said it occurred away from the main concentration of rally participants and found no evidence of a connection to Lula’s event; authorities were still investigating the cause, with a possible gas leak cited as the leading line of inquiry.

That account contrasts with the broader tension surrounding the rally, though not with the investigation into the explosion. The PT had organized the event with Lula and Fernando Haddad as a closing campaign gathering before the first round. Police asked attendees to concentrate on Rua Augusta and leave space for vehicles, following an electoral court decision allowing the event while barring obstruction of traffic.

Campaign officials and police disputed how that restriction was applied. The report described arguments between officers and Lula’s São Paulo campaign coordinator, Marco Aurélio de Carvalho, while some supporters jeered police. Lula, in remarks reported from the event, accused the force of giving preferential treatment to his opponents, saying in translation: “They cannot turn Paulista into a platform for the far right. Paulista belongs to the Brazilian people.”

Police, however, said they had not prevented the planned route and maintained that the move toward Rua Augusta was unrelated to the explosion. The two issues therefore remained distinct: an unresolved inquiry into the blast’s origin and a political disagreement over policing and access during the demonstration.

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