At least two people were killed Thursday in the collapse of a new elevated bike path that has been heralded as a top legacy project of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The accident on the Tim Maia bike path is the latest in a series of problems besetting preparations for the Aug. 5-21 games, which include worries about an outbreak of the Zika virus, political turmoil that threatens to topple President Dilma Rousseff, underwhelming ticket sales and budget cuts amid Brazil's worst recession in decades. Municipal Secretary Pedro Paulo Carvalho said a third person was thought to be missing after a giant wave apparently swept up a rocky cliff, lifted an approximately 150-foot (50-meter) stretch of the bike path and sent it plunging onto the rock and sea below. Rio's fire department only confirmed the two deaths. Local news media said two other people were rescued alive. Helicopters fished the two who died out of the water and laid them out on the golden sands of Sao Conrado beach. Initially covered by colorful beach sarongs, they were later shrouded by a sheet of black plastic. Waves periodically washed over the bodies. A crowd of beachgoers gathered round the corpses, while others continued a game of beach soccer nearby. Joao Ricardo Tinoco identified one of the victims as his brother-in-law, Eduardo Marinho Albuquerque. He said the 54-year-old father of one was out jogging at the time of the accident. Tinoco's sister, Eliane, kneeled over his body, kissing his face and begging for another moment to "say goodbye." Carvalho was asked whether shoddy construction - a perennial problem in Brazil, where graft is a fixture of many construction projects - might be to blame for the accident. He said it was too early to tell and said an investigation is under way to determine the cause of the collapse. "It's clear that an accident like this is unpardonable," Carvalho told the Globo television network. The entire 4-kilometer- (2.5-mile) bike path, which links the tony beachfront neighborhoods of Sao Conrado and Leblon, is now closed, Carvalho said.

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