Australians Report Theft from Olympic Village

It happened during a small fire
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 31, 2016 2:51 PM CDT
Australians Report Theft from Olympic Village
A member of the Croatian Olympic delegation takes looks out from a balcony at the Olympic athletes village in Rio.   (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

The head of Australia's delegation at the Rio Olympics says a laptop and team shirts were stolen from the team's accommodation at the athletes' village on Friday while the building was being evacuated because of a small fire, the AP reports. Delegation head Kitty Chiller on Sunday called the situation "concerning" but added "unfortunately theft is going to be inevitable" in a compound with 31 buildings and up to 18,000 athletes and staff.

Australia has been hard hit so far in Rio. It declined to enter the village on the official opening day a week ago, citing gas and water leaks, electrical shorts, and general filth in its building. The team began checking in on Wednesday, but on Friday a small fire broke out in the basement of the building, which forced an evacuation. There were no injuries. (More 2016 Olympics stories.)

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