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Olympics media village built on 'sacred' burial site

Rio 2016 unveiled athletes' village to mark Olympic Day on Thursday. (Getty Images)
Rio 2016 unveiled athletes' village to mark Olympic Day on Thursday. (Getty Images)

Journalists arriving in Rio de Janeiro to cover the 2016 Olympic Games will stay at a newly opened condominium, but a community of descendants of runaway slaves claims the media village was built on sacred burial grounds.

Adilson Batista Almeida, the leader of a group of descendants known as Camorim Quilombo, told The Guardian that developers demolished grounds the community spent over a decade attempting to preserve.

“One Sunday morning a chainsaw came and devastated everything including century-old trees,” Almeida said. “I regard the ground as sacred because it is where my ancestors were buried.”

Camorim Quilombo tried to acquire the title to the land, which also featured remains of an old slave-owner’s house, a sugar mill from the era and a community soccer field. However, real estate developer Cyrela bought the land in 2013 and cleared the area for construction.

Brazil was the last country in the world to end the practice of slavery, outlawing it in 1888, after importing more than 4 million Africans.

Both the city government of Rio de Janeiro and the developer claim there was no wrongdoing in the acquisition of the property.

“The acquisition of the property by Cyrela took place in a regular and lawful manner,” the developer told the Guardian.

Barra Media Village 3, just 4 kilometers from the Olympic Park, opened to journalists July 5 and will be sold to private buyers after the conclusion of the Rio Games.