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TWO Olympic Paralympian athletes have mysteriously vanished from the Paris Summer Games just days after missing the closing ceremony.
French authorities are now investigating the shocking case after members of the Congolese athletes’ delegation warned them of their disappearance two days ago.
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Shot putter Mireille Nganga and Emmanuel Grace Mouambako, a visually impaired sprinter who was accompanied by a guide, went missing on September 5.
They were last seen at the athletes’ village in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
The athletes’ suitcases were also gone but their passports remained with the Congolese delegation, French authorities have confirmed.
Both the Paralympians had taken part in the opening ceremony on August 28 but were missing from the closing ceremony that took place last week on September 8.
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A Congolese delegation official had reported their disappearance to the police, explaining that he had not heard from or seen them since then, Le Monde reports.
Cops have now launched a formal investigation into their shocking case, but are keeping an open mind about voluntary disappearance.
Meanwhile, another athlete vanished in Paris days before the opening ceremony.
An inquest has now been opened into the “worrying disappearance” of the Rwandan athlete, who is a sitting volleyball team player.
According to Huffington Post, she arrived with the Rwandan team earlier this month before making a base at the Courbevoie camp in Hauts-de-Seine.
On August 20, she left the group to go to a restaurant but never returned.
And on Tuesday, the president of the Rwandan Olympic Committee visited the local police station to report her disappearance.
An investigation has now been opened by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office.
A statement just hours before the Paralympics opening ceremony confirmed “the referral to the BRDP (the Brigade for the Suppression of Crimes against Persons) as part of an investigation into a worrying disappearance.”
A Paris 2024 Paralympics spokesperson said: “Paris 2024 has been informed of the disappearance of a member of the Rwandan delegation accredited for the Paralympic Games.
“We are in contact with the Rwandan National Paralympic Committee and supporting them on this matter. An investigation has been opened.”
It’s not the first case of the disappearance of a sportsperson this summer.
In July a member of Cuba’s Olympic staff went missing after arriving in Paris.
Meanwhile, at the Commonwealth Games in 2022, three Sri Lankan team members disappeared.
Two were eventually found but the third remains missing.
