Brazilian firies ripped off Australian athletes during evacuation, says Chiller
Brazilian firemen allegedly stole Zika-protective shirts from Australia’s residence during an evacuation, when a laptop was also pinched and other computer equipment rifled through.
Australian team boss Kitty Chiller says she crossed paths with the thieves at the height of Friday’s fire drama at the Olympic athletes’ village.
At the time, Chiller’s initial thought was the shirts may have been given to the firemen by Australian team members as thanks for helping them evacuate.
“It doesn’t seem to have been what happened,” Chiller told reporters overnight.
A cycling official had a laptop stolen from a fifth-floor room during the evacuation but Chiller was uncertain whether it contained any sensitive team information.
“Our IT equipment in our operational space had also been rifled through but nothing had been stolen,” she said.
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A report from authorities investigating the blaze revealed several shortcomings in the response to the fire, which Australian hierarchy believe was caused by a cigarette tossed by a local worker into piles of rubbish in the basement.
Rio has two separate firefighting entities – civil and military – and Chiller arrived at the athletes’ village midway through the evacuation.
“When I arrived … I saw three fire (fighters). I don’t know which one they were from, walking out with our team shirts,” she said.
“I did notice it and I thought `oh, maybe they have helped evacuate people and so we had given them a team shirt’.”
-AAP
