RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Gunmen opened fire on a train carrying two government ministers as it passed through a Rio de Janeiro slum on its inaugural run on Monday, the latest outburst of gun violence in the crime-plagued city.

The ministers and other government officials were on the recently rebuilt railroad when a flurry of shots rang out near the Jacarezinho shantytown, forcing the passengers to dive for cover, said a Rio state government aide who was also on the train.

The train, which was headed to an official ceremony at Rio's port, was riddled with bullets but no one was hurt.

"When we were passing through Jacarezinho, both on the way there and on the way back, bullets rained down on us," the aide, Guedes de Freitas, told Reuters by telephone. "It was terrifying."

It was unclear if the gunmen knew the train, which was on a route primarily used to ship cargo, was carrying government officials. The passengers included Minister of Urban Affairs Marcio Fortes, National Ports Secretary Pedro Brito, and Julio Lopes, the transport secretary for the state of Rio.

Radio CBN reported that the shots came from at least four gunmen, all of whom appeared to be minors.

Shootouts between rival drug gangs and police in Rio's shantytowns are frequent and often deadly, giving the city one of the highest homicide rates in Latin America. More than 2,400 people were murdered in the Rio metropolitan area in the first seven months of the year, according to official data.

(Reporting by Pedro Fonseca)

AlertNet news is provided by