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Australian athletes have had a scare in Rio de Janeiro after their building in the Olympic Games Village was evacuated due to a fire.
All athletes are understood to be fine and have returned to the residence after spending 30 minutes out of the building.
The fire is believed to have started in the second underground floor of the building but it is not known at this stage how it started.
“We’ve had a fire in the building. All are present and accounted for. No damage, just a small fire. Some smoke filled up the stairwell,” Australian Olympic Committee spokesperson Mike Tancred told AAP.
Tancred described it as “a good chance for us to put our emergency plan into action”.
“I don’t know what caused the fire but it wasn’t the plumbing or anything like that,” he said.
The Australian team had previously complained about the state of the accommodation for its athletes at the village.
On Sunday, the AOC deemed Australia’s apartment tower at the village uninhabitable and sent athletes arriving in Rio to alternative accommodation while issues with exposed wiring, leaking pipes and blocked toilets were resolved.
Australia’s chef de mission Kitty Chiller said they made the decision to move to nearby hotels “because the village is simply not safe or ready.”
Other countries such as Italy, Argentina and New Zealand had also expressed concerns.
Extensive emergency repairs were carried out by hundreds of workers and allowed the first Australian athletes to move in to their official digs on Wednesday.
Rio mayor Eduardo Paes apologised and acknowledged Australia’s allocated building was the worst in the village.
“Australia was right,” he said.
“It was not in good shape. That was a mistake of the organisation.”
He added: “They’ve got their building now, and I hope things go well from now on.”