Edgard Garrido/Reuters
About 100 athletes and officials were evacuated from Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic Village on Friday after a small fire broke out, just days before the games were set to begin. The fire started in the basement of the Australian quarters, though it was reportedly put out within about 30 minutes. Kitty Chiller, the chef de mission of Australia’s Olympic team, said it was believed the fire was caused by a cigarette in a trash can, although the Olympic Village is a non-smoking area. “The stairwells filled with smoke, but the fire was confined to the carpark. No one was injured,” she said at a news conference. “There’s a lot of rubbish around the place which a lot of countries have been talking about for the last few days, left from contractors, left from workers. There are a lot of smokers. This is my real issue,” she said. An investigation into the incident is underway. Rio has faced a series of setbacks ahead of the Aug. 5 games, including athletes pulling out over concerns about the Zika virus and security concerns regarding the corrupt and underpaid police force.