7 Asian Games athletes go missing

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7 Asian Games athletes go missing

Police are searching for seven athletes who have gone missing from their Asian Games delegations and are thought to be looking for work illegally in South Korea.

Incheon police said yesterday that they were looking for three athletes from Nepal, two from Sri Lanka and one each from Bangladesh and Palestine.

The delegations reported the athletes missing to Incheon Asian Games organizers, who then informed the authorities, police told Reuters.

“We believe they’ve gone missing with the intention of finding work in South Korea,” Incheon police said by telephone.

Police said the athletes’ visas would expire on Oct. 19 and that they would be treated as illegal aliens and deported if apprehended after that date.

South Korean authorities encountered a similar situation in 2002 when several athletes disappeared from the Asian Games in Korea’s port city of Busan.

The athletes were from a variety of the 36 sports at the Asian Games, including karate (Bangladesh), weightlifting (Palestine), beach volleyball (Sri Lanka), hockey (Sri Lanka), wushu (two Nepalese) and sepaktakraw (Nepal).

Reuters
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