Bomb scare brings chaos to Copacabana amid Rio Olympics opening ceremony (PHOTOS)

A suspicious bag left near the Beach Volleyball Arena in Copacabana has forced the partial evacuation of the area. Authorities deployed explosives experts and a robotic bomb detection unit to assess the threat, which was deemed a false alarm.

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Armed Brazilian police and military sealed off the area in front of Copacabana beach at around 8:40pm local time (11:40pm GMT) after reports of a suspicious bag emerged.

Soldiers stand in the road near to where bomb disposal experts were called to examine a suspect package next to the beach volleball arena during the opening ceremony. © Carlos Barria © Reuters

A bomb disposal unit which arrived at the scene some 10 minutes later initially deployed a robotic unit to inspect what appeared to be a black backpack.

After that the bag was inspected by an bomb disposal officer, before an all-clear was given about half an hour later.

A robot removes a suspicious backpack, near Copacabana Beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil August 5, 2016. © Carlos Barria © Reuters