RIO DE JANEIRO — Police in Rio de Janeiro freed two hostages including a child during a raid Thursday on a drug trafficking ring that prompted an intense shoot-out in a low-income neighborhood, leaving eight gang members dead, authorities said.

The operation targeted the criminal organization known as Pure Third Command, including a trafficker nicknamed "the Coronel," who was accused of murdering a woman in August, Rio's police said in a statement.

“During the operation, agents arrived at a property where six criminals were holding a pastor and a child hostage. The attackers resisted, and were neutralized,” police said. “Two other criminals were neutralized at another point.”

The hostages were released safely, police said. Authorities also arrested two people as they were trying to take

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