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Aussies safe after Olympic Village fire

The fire is believed to have started in the second underground floor of the building but it is not known at this stage how it started.

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“We are all accounted for”, said Mike Tancred, director of media and communications for the Australian Olympic Committee, adding that the fire did not appear to have been serious.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Friday for a cessation of violence around the world during the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which are set to begin next week in Rio de Janeiro. No damage, just a small fire.

The Athletes’ Village was described as “neither safe nor ready” by Australian Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller last week.

Other countries such as Italy, Argentina and New Zealand had also expressed concerns.

Extensive emergency repairs were carried out by hundreds of workers and allowed the first Australian athletes to move in to their official digs on Wednesday.

The Australian team, which is in the worst-affected building number 23, initially refused to move in until the problems were solved.

“It was not in good shape”.

The fire caused no injuries and the team was back in the building after half an hour, the spokesman said.

“That was a mistake of the organisation”, he said.

About 100 officials and athletes were briefly evacuated when the fire broke out in a vehicle park rubbish bin.

Their participation in the Olympics is a tribute to the courage and perseverance of all refugees in overcoming adversity and building a better future for themselves and their families, he said in a recent statement.

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“The stairwells and corridors filled with smoke, but the fire was confined to the vehicle park and no-one was injured”.

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