Russian diplomat kills armed mugger trying to steal watch in Rio

The Russian vice-consul in Rio has shot dead a mugger who tried to hold him up in his car, it has been reported.

Marcos Cesar Feres Braga, a Brazilian lawyer who holds the vice-consul post at the Russian consulate, grabbed his assailant and pulled him into his car, before shooting him dead with his own gun, the Daily Mail reported.

The mugger struck at around midday on Thursday as Braga was waiting for traffic to start moving again after the Olympic torch had passed by on Avenida das Americas in the Barra da Tijuca district of Rio, close to the Olympic Park and athletes' village.

His body lay on the road for several hours as police underwent investigations.

One witness said the mugger, named as Leonardo Lopes Batista, shouted, "you've lost, hand over your watch" before breaking the car window with his revolver.

An accomplice fled after seeing his partner suddenly hauled inside the diplomat's car.

In a statement, Rio's 31st Military Police Battalion, which investigated the incident, said Braga acted quickly pulling the man inside the car before taking his revolver and shooting him.

Rio's Homicide Police Station said investigators were still at the crime scene, more than five hours following the shooting.

"The man involved is a lawyer and also the vice-consul of Russia. He is Brazilian and a native of Rio de Janeiro," the Daily Mail quoted a spokesman as saying.

"He is not part of or has any relation with the Olympic committee of Russia which is in Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics."

The shooting comes amid heightened security during the Olympics with 80,000 members of the Brazilian military bolstering police resources.