Four officers died when their helicopter was reportedly shot down over the City of God favela in Rio de Janeiro during a police operation on Saturday evening, November 19.

According to local reports, the chopper was supporting a ground operation against local drug traffickers when it was hit by an unidentified projectile. Earlier in the day fighting with criminal gangs closed the main Yellow Line highway for 40 minutes.

It is not the first time that a police helicopter was shot down in the city. In a similar incident in 2009, drug traffickers downed a helicopter in another Rio favela killing three policemen. Credit: Twitter/@Bryann_09 via Storyful