A spectacular ceremony officially opened the XV Paralympic Games last night.

The city’s iconic Maracana stadium was turned into a sea of light and colour, and reverberated to Samba beats during a Ceremony that lived up to its promise to surprise, provoke and celebrate – all with a Brazilian twist – commented the International Paralympic Committee website.

In his opening address, IPC president Sir Philip Craven promised that the 2016 Paralympics would be the “People’s Games” and predicted they would “bring a new perspective to everyone in this country by showing that the human spirit knows no limits.”

President of the Rio 2016 organising committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman said Rio stood “ready to make history”.

Brazil’s President Michel Temer officially declared the Games open.

The Rio Paralympic Games – the first ever hosted in Latin America – will see athletes from 160 teams compete in 528 medal events across 22 sports in 10 days of exciting competition.

Around 1.7 million tickets have been sold for the Games – more than in Beijing in 2008.

The Paralympic flag was carried into the arena by 10 children from AACD, an association that offers support for children with impairments.

The lighting of the cauldron by Brazilian Paralympic record-holder Clodoaldo Silva was greeted with a huge roar after an emotionally-charged final stage of the Paralympic flame’s journey around Brazil.

The Paralympic Games – a major international multi-sport event involving athletes with a range of disabilities – are organized in parallel with the Olympic Games.

The Paralympics has grown from a small gathering of British World War II veterans in 1948 to become one of the largest international sporting events.