KIGALI, April 13 (Xinhua) -- One Rwandan is among the missing participants at the ongoing Commonwealth Games in Australia, according to local media reports.
Rwanda's minister of sports and culture Julienne Uwacu could not confirm or deny the report of the runaway participant when contacted by Xinhua, saying she was yet to get a report from Australia.
But Rwanda National Olympic and Sports Committee (RNOSC) president, Ambassador Valens Munyabagisha told local media from Australia that Jean Paul Nsengiyuma had disappeared from his teammates for the past three days.
The runaway had gone as a powerlifting coach, according to RNOSC.
RNOSC had said earlier that a total of 17 athletes across four different sporting disciplines are representing Rwanda.
Australia's Home Affairs Minister on Thursday issued a stern warning to eight runaway Commonwealth Games athletes, giving them a May-15 deadline to leave the country.
Peter Dutton warned that if the athletes did not leave the country by May 15, he would track them down and "lock them in a local watch house" until they could be deported.
Three weightlifters and two boxers from Cameroon went missing on Tuesday and a team official on Thursday confirmed the total had risen to eight, a third of the nation's 24-person team for the games.
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) had confirmed reports that athletes from Rwanda and Uganda had also gone missing along with two squash players from Sierra Leone.