Officials detonated backpack prior to Spain-Nigeria basketball game in Rio
Controlled explosion used with teams still in the building.
By
Matt Moore
•
1 min read
It says a lot about the various instances of bad press going on with the Rio Games that this story slipped through the cracks. (You know, stories like when they lost the key to a venue and the firefighters had to come in with bolt cutters to let people in.) (Or the green pool due to "algae.")
It turns out that during Thursday night's game between Spain and Nigeria, there was a quiet crowd for an ominous reason. Officials had decided to detonate a backpack left in the restroom, and did not evacuate the players, coaches, or game personnel. From the AP:
(Spain) held off Nigeria 96-87 Thursday night in a game that started in a nearly entirely empty arena while police exploded a suspicious backpack.
The public address announcer welcomed fans, players were introduced and national anthems were played, a standard pregame scene except for people in the seats.
"We thought, I guess nobody came to watch the game," Pau Gasol said.
They had come, but couldn't get in. Security officials prevented fans from entering while police exploded the backpack left near a public restroom. The explosion reverberated inside and outside of Carioca Arena 1.
Gasol was startled by the boom as he was walking onto the floor near the Spain bench.
"We heard an explosion but we didn't know exactly what it was or how big it was," Gasol said. "We thought it was fireworks or, I don't know. The arena was pretty much dead empty at the beginning."
Source: After explosion, Spain basketball gets 1st win of Olympics.
i was told by a brazilian journalist that the backpack had two coats and an iPad in it
— Chip Williams (@chipwilliamsjr) August 12, 2016
but the fire department decided to explode the backpack in a controlled environment as a precaution
— Chip Williams (@chipwilliamsjr) August 12, 2016
That's the second instance of a controlled explosion near an event during the games in Rio, after a roadside device was detonated near a cycling event.
That's got to make you nervous, just for the proximity of Gasol in that instance, plus a reminder of the widespread security concerns. Despite major fears about health situations for the athletes, bad press has been relatively limited at the games; things haven't been as bad as feared. But this is an example of how there are still a lot of concerns as the games continue through the rest of the month.
