Makeshift graves on Copacabana beach to honour Brazil's rapidly growing number of coronavirus victims were destroyed in an ugly row between protesters.
Brazilians critical of their government's ambiguous response to the coronavirus pandemic were mocked by counter-protesters who destroyed their symbolic graves.
As a tribute to the 41,000 people who have died in the South American country so far, 100 graves with stuck black crosses were dug in the sand of Rio's Copacabana beach on Thursday.
Part of a protest mounted by non-governmental organisation Rio de Paz, the graves were dug overnight on the beach opposite the glitzy Copacabana Hotel.
Brazil has become a major epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, with 41,058 deaths and over 800,000 confirmed cases, the world's worst outbreak after the United States.
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Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed the gravity of the pandemic and pushed local governments to lift quarantine measures, sending contradictory signals to Brazilians on whether to use masks and practise social distancing.
"The president has not realized that this is one of the most dramatic crises in Brazil's history," said organiser Antonio Carlos Costa, who criticized Bolsonaro for not showing solidarity with the suffering.
"Families are mourning thousands of dead, and there is unemployment and hunger," he said.
But not everyone agreed with the protest.
Mr Costa said some supporters of the president had mocked the project.
"They feel such rage - and I think they're reproducing the behaviour of the person occupying the highest position in the land," he said.
An angry man pulled out crosses, shouting against the symbolic tribute.
Another man, who said his 25-year-old son died of COVID-19, went around replacing the fallen crosses.
"It's such a tragedy," said passer-by Marcia Lucia Dias.
"It's frightening to see the crosses. But this is really happening. Our authorities contradict themselves and we don't know what to do."
