Car rams gate of Brazilian presidential palace

A car has rammed the gate of the Brazilian president's palace in the capital Brasilia as pressure grows on Michel Temer to resign

Policemen and armed forces reinforced security in front of the Alvorada Palace
Policemen and armed forces reinforced security in front of the Alvorada Palace

A car has rammed the gate of the Brazilian president's palace as calls grow on Michel Temer to resign amid a corruption scandal and single-digit popularity.

A statement from Temer's office said that a vehicle drove at high speed towards the Alvorada Palace in the capital Brasilia late on Wednesday, forcing guards to fire warning shots at the car.

After the warning shots failed to slow down the vehicle, security forces fired at the car, which then came to halt.

The driver, who is underage, was detained, but was unharmed.

Temer was not in the Alvorada Palace at the time.

Brazilian media have shown footage of a gate lying on the ground along with what appear to be a number of spent bullet cartridges.

Anger has been simmering since Temer took office last year, replacing leftist Dilma Rousseff after she was impeached for breaking budgetary rules.

Temer promised to restore political stability and to steer Brazil out of its deepest recession in history with market reforms. But the 76-year-old has been engulfed in a graft scandal and involving nearly one-third of his ministers and several congressional leaders.

The scandal revolves around kickbacks from construction companies in return for winning lucrative projects at state-run oil company Petrobras.

Earlier in the day, a Supreme Court judge sent a charge of corruption against President Temer to Congress for another scandal - the next move in a process which could see him removed from office and face trial.

Temer has been indicted for arranging to receive millions of dollars in bribes from a meat-processing company.

He has denied any wrongdoing.

The lower house of Congress is expected to vote in the coming weeks on whether to allow him to be tried.

Since taking office, he has led a market-friendly government which has tried to implement unpopular labour and pension reforms that, he says, are vital for Brazil's economic recovery.

Temer's latest approval ratings are just seven percent, the lowest of any Brazilian president in nearly three decades.