Skydivers fall to their deaths during Rio Olympic Rings performance

The two men collided mid-air when it is believed their parachutes became intertwined causing their fall, according to Boituva Fire Department

According to the Rio 2016 organising committee, the aerial show was not part of the official build-up (Reuters)

Two skydivers have fallen to their deaths while performing an Olympic Rings aerial routine in Brazil.

A group of 28 skydivers had attempted to recreate the five Olympic rings while in freefall over Boituva, a town 72 miles west of São Paulo.

Boituva Fire Department told G1 the two men collided mid-air when it is believed their parachutes became intertwined, causing their fall.

The two men were named as National skydiving champion Gustavo Correa Garcez, 39, and instructor Guilherme Bastos Padilha, 47.

Correa Garcez died at a nearby hospital minutes after arriving while Bastos Padilha died at the scene due to traumatic brain injury.

Police are now investigating and testing the equipment the two men used.

The Rio 2016 organising committee have stated the aerial performance was part of the official build-up to the opening ceremony on August 5.

Near the Olympic volleyball arena, mutilated body parts have been discovered on Rio's Copacabana beach.

The gruesome discovery came after more than a week of deadly gun battles in the city’s slums amid attempts to capture a Brazilian drug trafficker who escaped a hospital recommended to tourists.