RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Australian Olympic team members were forced to evacuate their lodgings on Friday at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics after a small fire in a basement parking area caused smoke to fill the stairwells.
Advertisement
Following the incident on Friday, the AOC released a statement confirming that “approximately 100 athletes and officials were evacuated in an orderly and controlled fashion” after an emergency plan was activated.
Chiller said the team received a certificate two days ago to say the building complied with fire standards.
“These Olympic Games are a marathon not a sprint and I’m sure that there are going to be other hurdles and obstacles that crop up in other areas and it’s just a matter of dealing with them as best as we can in good humour”.
“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.
The toxicity levels and pollution of Rio De Janeiro’s Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas has been a major concern leading up to the Rio Olympics because, well, Olympic rowers are expected to compete in that water.
A Rio 2016 spokesman, Philip Wilkinson, explained to The Guardian that despite reports, however, the fizzle of the flame was not as dramatic as it was made out to be.
It is the latest accommodation setback for both the organisers and the Australian team, with bosses having been initially reluctant to move in to due to safety fears.
Rio mayor Eduardo Paes apologised and acknowledged Australia’s allocated building was the worst in the village.
Advertisement
Paes has deployed more than 600 workmen to work around the clock on the Olympic Village and expects to have all 31 tower blocks ready for use by the end of the week. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article.
