The footage shows the gunman appearing to throw a jacket into the air before suddenly crumpling to the ground and out of the camera’s eye-line. It emerged that the assailant had been shot dead by a sniper. Dozens of people were trapped on the bus after it was commandeered by the gunman on a heavily transited bridge connecting Rio with the neighbouring city of Niteroi.
At least six people – four women and two men – were freed.
Around 31 people had remained on the bus throughout the terrifying ordeal.
Heavily armed police including military and snipers had surrounded the bus as they negotiated with the gunman, who G1 news reported had been armed with a gun, a taser and gasoline.
A military police spokesman told local media: “This is the police that we want to see.
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“It was necessary for the sniper to neutralize (the hijacker) and save people on the bus.
“He (the hijacker) died at the scene.”
The gunman reportedly boarded the Rio-bound bus at 5.30 am (8.30am GMT) and began threatening passengers.
Around four hours later the febrile situation was brought to a close when the hostage-taker was shot dead.
The identity of the hijacker has not been released.
The video depicts him as a young man wearing a bandana, a white t-shirt and dark trousers.
It is not clear if he made any demands or what his motivation was for taking the hostages.
This is not the first time a gunman has hijacked a public transit bus in Rio.
In 2000, a gunman stormed a passenger bus in a fashionable neighbourhood of the city. The hours-long hijacking of bus 174 was later turned into an award-winning documentary.
The hijacker and one hostage were killed.