Australia team safe after Rio Olympic Village fire evacuation

Team USA concluded the multi-nation camp on Thursday after a successful week of training and moved in to the Olympic Village this morning.

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.

With just a few days before its official opening, the Summer Olympics in Rio has already faced a great deal of trouble, including the need for a “massive operation” to address a wide range of plumbing and electricity problems at the Athletes’ Village in Rio.

Rio mayor Eduardo Paes apologised and acknowledged Australia’s allocated building was the worst in the village.

She went on to say that this could have been avoided had Chicago done enough to earn the hosting rights.

“I will join 35 million Canadians in proudly cheering on our athletes at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games”.

The AOC issued a statement about Friday’s incident, confirming that an emergency response plan was activated and “approximately 100 athletes and officials were evacuated in an orderly and controlled fashion”.

Labour inspectors in Brazil warned this week they could fine the Games organisers for not providing the workers with the proper legal contracts.

The head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, who arrived in Rio on Wednesday, played down concerns over the city’s readiness.

The Olympic Truce – ceasing all conflicts between countries participating in the games from 7 days before the Olympics start until 7 days after they finish – has been passed on from Ancient Greece to current times to advance worldwide understanding and promote world peace. “The Brazilians will solve it”, Bach said. “We always had confidence in Brazil, in the Brazilians, that it will be a fantastic Olympic Games”.