The French Prosecutor’s Office reported on Wednesday that a para-athlete from the Rwandan delegation has been missing for over a week. The Paralympic athlete, who disappeared on August 20th, is supposed to participate in the Paralympic Games which officially begin today with the opening ceremony.
According to a police source, on August 20th around 7:00 p.m. local time, a sitting volleyball Paralympic athlete left the Courbevoie field, the town where her delegation is staying. "She was going to eat and never came back," explained a police source.
What is known about the disappearance of the Paralympic athlete in Paris?
The public prosecutor's office in the city of Nanterre, in the suburbs of Paris, which is responsible for the Courbevoie area, confirmed on Wednesday that it had requested "an investigation for a worrying disappearance".
The Ambassador of Rwanda was informed of the events and personally traveled, announcing that a member of his country's delegation had disappeared last Tuesday.
A few days ago, the French authorities had reported that they have reorganized their forces, mobilizing 25,000 police officers and gendarmes, 10,000 private security guards, and 8,000 soldiers from the 'Sentinel Operation' in preparation for the start of the Games, with their opening ceremony scheduled for this Wednesday.
This is about almost half of the agents in the Olympic Games, in line with the number of athletes and venues.
The topic of security in Paris was a subject of discussion prior to the start of both Olympic meetings, and during the Olympic Games, which took place last month, some irregularities were reported.
The Paralympic flame was lit last Saturday in Stoke Mandeville, England, the historic birthplace of the Paralympic sport. On July 29, 1948, the day of the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic Games of that same year, the German neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized the first sports competition for World War II veterans with spinal cord injuries at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, aiming to assist in their rehabilitation.
After being lit in Stoke Mandeville, the flame crossed the sea through the Channel Tunnel, marking the start of a legendary relay race. Twenty-four British athletes symbolically undertook the journey through the tunnel and were joined, halfway between the UK and France, by 24 French athletes to pass on the flame and the energy of the Games.