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A huge police operation to evict hundreds of families from abandoned buildings in Rio de Janeiro has ended with violent clashes and some injuries, the BBC reported.

More than 1,500 police officers had arrived at dawn to evict nearly 5,000 people from the site, belonging to a telecommunication company.

Some families left peacefully, but clashes began when others resisted.

Groups of squatters threw rocks at police who responded with tear gas and stun grenades.

Hundreds of children were among the crowds.

Vehicles were set on fire and supermarkets were looted.

Several people were injured, including children and police officers.

Cranes and tractors demolished wooden huts built around the buildings, many still full of the belongings residents had had no time to pack.

"They (the police) came here breaking everything, removing the people from there," said Sandro Sousa, a squatter.

"We lost our home and we are now trying to have a house," he told the Associated Press news agency.

"I am crying because I have nowhere to go to. I have no place to live," said another, Drielo Almeida.

But the Rio municipal authorities insisted that help had been offered to the homeless families.