Australians report theft at athletes' village amid Rio Olympic woes
RIO DE JANEIRO -- 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.
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 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.
Australia has been hard hit so far in Rio.
In May, two members of the Australian Paralympic sailing squad were robbed at gunpoint, Australia's Olympic team leader is urging Brazilian authorities to implement Olympic-scale security now in Rio de Janeiro "before an athlete gets hurt."
"Maybe the organizing committee should mobilize their games-time defense force early," Kitty Chiller, Australia's Olympic team leader, said back in June. "Do it now."
In May, Spain's Olympic gold-medal winning sailor Fernando Echavarri and two companions said they were held up at gunpoint by five young men in Rio.
The incident "was extremely concerning and disturbing," Chiller said then. "It's not an isolated incident."
Security is near the top of a long list of problems plaguing Rio ahead of the Olympics, including the Zika virus, water pollution, slow ticket sales, budget cuts, and massive governmental upheaval and corruption.