Backpack prompts bomb scare in Brasilia ahead of Lula inauguration

Members of the security forces stand near a cordoned off area following a suspected bomb threat in the city's hotel section, close to where President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is staying before his Jan. 1 inauguration, according to the federal district's security department, in Brasilia, Brazil, December 27, 2022. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

BRASILIA (Reuters) -Police in Brazil's capital, Brasilia, said on Tuesday that a backpack found near where President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was staying that had prompted a bomb scare contained only personal belongings.

News of the bomb squad being called into action just days before Lula takes office underscores the nervy atmosphere in Brasilia after the most fraught election in a generation.