List of missing Games athletes grows

Police are now hunting for nine missing Commonwealth Games competitors, after members of Sierra Leone's athletics team failed to attend a race yesterday.

Police say Sierra Leone's team management reported seven competitors missing after three members of a relay team did not turn up to yesterday's event.
Another three from the athletics team and a weightlifter are also missing.

Police say there are no suspicious circumstances.

They are still looking for a Tanzanian boxer and Bangladeshi runner who disappeared earlier in the week.

Sparking fears about possible defections, boxer Omari Idd Kimweri and 400 metres runner Mohammad Tawdihul Islam have both been missing since Monday.

Both had completed their events, officials said.

"Police are concerned about the welfare of the two missing athletes," a police spokeswoman said.

"It's been reported that they are missing."

The spokeswoman said police were not conducting searches but urged anyone with information about the athletes to contact them.

Australia's Immigration Department said the missing athletes were not yet a concern because they both still had valid visas to be in the country for another month.

Kimweri, a married civil servant, was beaten in the 48 kg flyweight boxing on Saturday.

Tanzanian team officials told The Age newspaper that they did not know if Kimweri's disappearance could be an attempt to defect.

Islam failed to advance from the 400m heats on Monday.

Five Bangladeshis went missing while at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester four years ago, sparking a crackdown on athletes competing in overseas events.

- RADIO AUSTRALIA, REUTERS