Girl loses her leg in float accident at Rio Carnival debut

Photo: Gustavo Ardila/Shutterstock

An 11-year-old girl had one of her legs amputated after suffering an accident during the first day of carnival parades in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday night.

She climbed onto a float and had her legs wedged against a pole. The girl also suffered cardiac arrest and chest injuries. According to Rio’s health system, she is in critical condition. The accident led to a one-hour delay of the parade of seven samba schools, so that medical care could be provided on-site.

Off-season Carnival festivities are taking place in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo this weekend, because of restrictions imposed by the coronavirus during the original holiday in February. It is the first time samba school parades have taken place since the beginning of the pandemic.

Amanda Audi

Amanda Audi is a journalist specializing in politics and human rights. She is the former executive director of Congresso em Foco and worked as a reporter for The Intercept Brasil, Folha de S. Paulo, O Globo, Gazeta do Povo, Poder360, among others. In 2019, she won the Comunique-se Award for best-written media reporter and won the Mulher Imprensa award for web journalism in 2020