(9News Australia) RIO- At least three laptops and other personal possessions have been stolen from Australian athletes during an evacuation of the Olympic village in Rio.
While the village has been flanked with security guards, concerns have been raised after the laptops and clothing were stolen during a fire evacuation on Friday.
Around 100 officials and athletes were briefly evacuated after a fire broke out in a car park rubbish bin at around 4.40am, believed to be caused by a discarded cigarette.
The Australian Olympics Committee has confirmed the theft of clothing and laptops, and immediately took precaution to have security guards installed on all floors of their building.
Damaged structures and security breaches are making for dramatic scenes in the lead up to the Rio Olympics.
It is unclear which athletes were directly affected by the robberies.
The latest blow to Rio organisers comes after the Australian team initially refused to move into village accommodations last weekend due to poor conditions of the facilities, including blocked toilets and dangerous wiring.
Maintenance workers have since fixed all defects and the team moved in on Wednesday.
Armed guards outside the village. (AAP)
Despite being a no-smoking venue, the blaze was also condemned by Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller due to a lack of working fire alarms.
“What we have subsequently found is that the fire alarms had been silenced while they were carrying out maintenance on the building next door to ours,” she said.
She said the athletes had not been advised that fire alarms were silenced, so were alerted to the emergency by “smoke in the corridors and stairwells”.
The Games officially begin on August 5.
Less than a week from the Rio games, more security concerns are being raised by athletes. (AAP)
