Two Paralympians representing the Republic of Congo at this 12 months’s Paris Video games have disappeared following their competitions.
Shot putter Mireille Nganga and blind sprinter Emmanuel Grace Mouambako had been final seen on the athletes village in Saint-Denis on Sept. 5 however solely reported lacking two days later by a member of the Congolese delegation.
French officers on the Bobigny prosecutor’s workplace opened up an investigation into the disappearance Nganga, Mouambako and Mouambako’s sighted information Sharon Victor Loussanga on Sept. 7, in accordance with French newspaper Le Monde.
Nganga, who has a leg impairment, and Mouambako, who’s visually impaired, had been the one two athletes chosen to symbolize Congo in Paris.
Nganga was her nation’s flag bearer for the opening ceremonies on Aug. 31, coming into Stade de France with the Republic of Congo’s flag strapped to her wheelchair.
On Sept. 4, the three athletes returned to the stadium for his or her respective competitions.
Nganga competed within the seated shotput and javelin occasions however recorded no mark.
Mouambako positioned fourth in his first spherical fourth warmth Males’s 100m T11, failing to qualify for the subsequent spherical.
The three weren’t current on the closing ceremonies at Stade de France on Sept. 8.
Suitcases belonging to the three athletes had been additionally lacking from the athletes village however their passports remained with members of the nation’s Paralympics delegation, the Related Press reported citing an official.
Investigators haven’t dominated out the potential of a voluntary disappearance or defection, however are additionally wanting into “potential disturbing components of the case,” the outlet reported.
Rwanda Paralympics volleyball participant Claudine Bazubagira went lacking days earlier than the opening ceremony after going out to dinner within the western Paris suburb of Courbevoie and never returning, lacking the complete competitors.
On Sept. 4, the vice chairman of the Eritrean Olympic Committee was reported lacking after leaving the athlete’s village the day past.
Cuban judoka Dayle Ojeda, who had traveled to Paris to assist prepare athletes for his or her 12 months’s Olympics disappeared earlier than the July 26 opening ceremonies, solely to reappear weeks later in Spain the place she took refuge.
“I really feel good, now extra relaxed and assured, wanting ahead to beginning a brand new life,” she informed CiberCuba.com with goals of now competing for Spain on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
With Submit wires
