A Brazilian Carnival float from the União de Maricá samba school ran over several individuals during Sunday’s parade in Rio de Janeiro, leaving at least three injured, with one in critical condition.
Rio de Janeiro kicked off this year’s world-renowned Carnival festivities over the weekend. Saturday and Sunday saw the first sets of parades under the Série Ouro (“Gold Series”) group, a subcategory containing the year’s “simpler” samba schools’ parades. The winner of the Gold Series parade competition is awarded a spot in the following year’s Special Group, where the largest and most elaborate parades participate.
Rio’s 2026 Carnival festivities will run through Saturday, February 21.
On Sunday, União de Maricá, a samba school from the eponymous Rio municipality of Maricá, participated in the second day of the Gold Series parades. G1 reported that the samba school’s last float ran people over when it crashed into a barrier while attempting to make a turn at the end of the parade, leaving at least three injured, including one in critical condition. The outlet explained that the samba school faced problems with the parade’s progression and had to “race against the clock” to not exceed the 55-minute time limit for its performance.
“While the last wings hurriedly danced their way to the Apoteose [square], members of the school pushed the last float, which veered off course and hit the right side of the runway, right in the middle of the closing gate,” G1 wrote. “At that moment, the structure hit three people who were on the curb of the avenue.”
Rio Health Secretary Daniel Soranz identified the critically injured man as 65-year-old União de Maricá member Itamar de Oliveira, who suffered from severe open fractures in both legs. The man reportedly underwent emergency surgery in the late evening hours of Sunday, during which doctors installed an external fixator on one of the man’s legs. Sanz detailed that the other two injured men suffered minor injuries and were taken by stretcher bearers to a clinic.
“It was a crushing injury, but fortunately it should be possible to save his leg. The team is currently assessing him in the operating room. He arrived in serious condition, but he is now stable and will undergo surgery for two open fractures. The vascular and orthopedic teams at [Hospital] Souza Aguiar are already on the case,” Soranz explained to reporters on Sunday.
“The vascular surgery and orthopedics departments at the hospital did an incredible job. He’ll be fine,” Soranz asserted to G1 on Monday morning.
Witnesses who spoke with the Brazilian outlet Terra asserted that the float caught fire before the accident occurred. UOL reported that the school’s second float also caught fire while it was in a special area designated for floats to maneuver after the end of its performance and published footage of performers getting off the float while staff worked to put off the fires.
G1 noted on Monday morning that, although a “column of smoke could be seen from different points of the Sambadrome,” local authorities did not document any fire-related injuries so far. G1 reported that local police authorities are presently investigating the accident and have carried out a preliminary forensic examination at the scene of the incident to ascertain its circumstances.
The União de Maricá samba school reportedly released a statement in the hours following the accident expressing their solidarity with de Oliveira and his family and asserting that the mayor of Maricá, Washington Quaquá, offered to provide all possible assistance to the injured.
“Our Maricá Union put on a spectacular show at Sapucaí [Sambodrome]. It was a beautiful parade, showcasing the strength and power of black women. Congratulations to President Matheus and all the members of the school. And now we await the results of the judging. I would like to express my solidarity with those injured in the accident involving the last float. I am available to provide all possible assistance to them and their families,” Mayor Quaquá reportedly said.
According to CNN Brasil, the accident caused the União de Maricá samba school to exceed the maximum parade time allotted, for which a penalty score will be imposed on the school for Wednesday’s parade competition.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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