Australian team evacuated in Olympic village fire scare

Rio de Janeiro, July 30 (IANS) Australian athletes were forced to briefly evacuate their apartments when a fire alarm was raised in their section of the Rio 2016 Olympic village, officials said.

According to officials, fire crews were called when smoke was detected in one of the buildings on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The athletes were allowed to return to their apartments 30 minutes later and there were no reports of injuries or damages.

"There was a lot of smoke and we had to evacuate," Australian team spokesman Mike Tancred said. "The firefighters came, it was controlled and we returned. There was no big drama."

According to the Estado de S.Paulo newspaper, firefighters said a small blaze was started by a lit cigarette butt in the building's basement.