Australian police said on Wednesday that they are increasingly concerned for the safety of two Commonwealth Games competitors who went missing from the athletes’ village. Bangladesh 400m sprinter Tawhidul Mohammad Islam and Tanzanian boxer Omari Idd Kimweri disappeared on Monday and have not been seen since.
”We are concerned for their welfare and for their safety,” said Victoria police commissioner Christine Nixon. ”They left behind clothes and possessions. But their visas are valid until April 26 and, until that time, they are free to enjoy the country.”
Nixon wouldn’t comment on reports that Islam’s family in Bangladesh could face imprisonment if he failed to return. Islam finished fifth in his heat of the 400m at the Games on Monday but did not make the final.
Kimweri, a married civil servant from Dar es Salaam, lost his first fight to Ghanian Manyo Plange on Friday.
Bangladesh general team manager Ishtiaq Ahmad said Islam is a serving soldier and would not desert his country.
”I don’t think so because he’s working in the army, he has a secure job. I don’t think it [his disappearance] was intentional,” he told Australian Associated Press.
”He can’t speak English. I say there’s no reason why he should stay here. I am very worried about his wellbeing, I don’t know where he is.
”If anybody finds him or knows of his whereabouts they should help him to come back to the village. We are leaving on the March 27, his athletics team is leaving tomorrow [Thursday].”
Tanzanian chef de mission Henry Ramadhani issued a statement saying Kimweri was a respected member of the team.
”The disappearance is highly out of character for Omari,” the statement said. ”We are all concerned for his well-being and we very much hope he returns to us safely.”
The issue of absconding athletes was a major issue at the last Commonwealth Games in Manchester four years ago.
Twenty-one athletes from the Sierra Leone squad, two thirds of their delegation, vanished after the Games with immigration officials fearing that they used the games as a ploy to gain entry to the United Kingdom permanently.
Four Bangladeshi sprinters also vanished in Manchester, as did Pakistani swimmer Abid Hussain. — Sapa-AFP