(Bloomberg) -- One person died after a blast Wednesday night in front of Brazil’s Supreme Court in the capital Brasilia, forcing officials and staff to evacuate the building.
A man tried to enter the Supreme Court building with explosives strapped to his body, preliminary investigations show. The spokesman for the Federal District military police, Major Raphael van der Broocke, told journalists that a man “exterminated himself,” without identifying him.
“We still cannot say that he was a lone wolf, investigations are still ongoing,” said Brazil’s Federal District acting governor Celina Leão, who labeled the event a suicide, highlighting that investigations are still preliminary.
According to local authorities, the man’s death followed a car explosion at 7:30 pm local time.
Justices were safely removed from the court building, the top court said in a statement. The head of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, said the voting session was closed earlier for security reasons. Also for this reason, the security of the Congress was reinforced, and Pacheco left the building by the garage.
Praça dos Três Poderes, the main access square to the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace, has already been closed by local authorities. Security at the public buildings was reinforced, Leão added. Congressional sessions are canceled tomorrow, according to the lower house.
Early last year, the main government buildings in Brasilia were invaded by thousands of supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who ransacked congress and rampaged through the presidential palace and supreme court.
(Updates with official information throughout)
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