The Brazilian authorities in Rio de Janeiro are deploying some 15,600 police officers in the city and on Copacabana beach ahead of a free concert there by British rock group The Rolling Stones, city's security officials said on Friday.

The event, part of the group's Bigger Bang tour, is expected to draw 1.5 million people to the beach, around the same number that gathered for the city's New Year's celebration.

Security has to be strengthened because New Year is a festival of peace while the Stones' classic rock and roll is no one's idea of peaceful music, said Marcelo Itagiba, Rio's public security chief.

The bulk of his officers will be on the beach, with some 6,000 watching the streets of the city. The security forces will be bolstered further by three aircraft, two boats, 23 observation towers and closed circuit television cameras.

Police will also take over the shantytowns close to Copacabana and several neighboring districts.

Roads to the beach will be closed from 3 p.m. on Saturday and the 800 coaches expected to bring tourists to the event will have to park in Flamingo Park, some 8 km from the beach.

The Stones, now mostly in their 60s, will play from a gigantic stage 22 meters high, and during the show, the band will walk across a 60-meter drawbridge to a second stage in the middle of the audience, where the musicians will spend 20 minutes with their fans.

However, apart from some 4,000 special guests, most of the public will have to follow the show from a distance of at least four meters.

A total of 16 transmission towers will allow the sound to travel close to 1 km from the stage where eight four-meter high screens will carry images of the band.

Source: Xinhua