Evangelicals are mistaken for Flamengo fans and have buses stoned in Belo Horizonte

Buses carrying passengers from the Ore Comigo Music Festival, the largest gospel festival in Latin America, were stoned in the early hours of Sunday (23) on BR-040, in Nova Lima, in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte. The aggressors wore Cruzeiro shirts and hoods and, according to the main suspect of the investigation, mistook the faithful for caravans of Flamengo fans. At least four people were injured, including children.

According to the Federal Highway Police (PRF), the attack occurred around midnight at km 565.9, near the first toll plaza, towards Rio de Janeiro. About five men were hiding in the woods on the side of the road and threw stones at the collectives before fleeing in a white van. Five buses were hit: four tourist buses and one from Viação Cometa, which made the regular line between Belo Horizonte and Rio.

Alcohol-free festival mistaken for cheering

caravanConfusion contradicts almost all available signals. Ore Comigo gathered an estimated audience of 60 thousand people at the MRV Arena, with tickets sold out, more than ten hours of musical performances, prayer and preaching, sale of alcoholic beverages prohibited and free admission for children up to six years old. The game between Cruzeiro and Flamengo, for the 24th round of the Brazilian Championship, was played at Mineirão, in another region of the capital. The buses attacked were tourist vehicles, without any club identification.

What brought the two audiences together was only the road. The BR-040 in the south direction is the natural route both for those returning to Rio and for those going to the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais, the destination of the two buses of Vinny Vans Transportes e Turismo, from Santos Dumont, which carried about 90 passengers. There was also no defeat to be discounted: Cruzeiro won 2-1, with a goal from Matheus Pereira in stoppage time.

Businessman Vinícius Lucas, owner of two of the vehicles, says that nine buses were hit, above that recorded by the PRF, and that none carried fans. He estimates the loss between R$ 5 thousand and R$ 7 thousand in the fleet itself and more than R$ 50 thousand in total. Some collectives were unable to continue their journey.

Organized banned and violence far from the stadium

The attack takes place in a period of restriction to the main Minas Gerais organizations. Cruzeiro’s Blue Mafia and Atlético’s Galoucura comply with a ban imposed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Minas Gerais, which removes them from stadiums across the country until March 2028 and vetoes shirts and banners of fans within a radius of five kilometers from stadiums on game days. The punishment came after the death of a fan in a fight between rival groups.

EPR Via Mineira, the concessionaire of the stretch, reported that it attended the occurrence and evaluated a passenger with minor injuries, who refused hospital referral. A bulletin was registered and the case is under investigation. No suspect had been arrested until the publication of this report.