Sabotage in Olympic village ‘isolated'

RIO DE JANEIRO—Sabotage by unhappy workers may have caused water and gas leaks, blocked toilets and electrical faults that slowed teams from moving into the athletes' village, Rio Olympic organizers said Thursday.

"We are considering isolated cases, but we haven't seen enough to say it was an organized sabotage thing," Rio spokesman Mario Andrada said. He said the most likely cause was what he called "organizational problems."

All 31 buildings at the massive compound for 18,000 athletes and staff are due to be ready at the end of Thursday, with the games opening in just over a week. Andrada says about 400 of the 3,600 rooms in the complex had defects.

South America's first games have been plagued by problems, including the Zika virus, severe water pollution, security worries and slow ticket sales. But the slipshod construction is the first problem directly touching many teams and athletes.

Australia refused to check in at Sunday's official opening, setting off public complaints by at least a dozen teams. Those complaints ranged from water dripping from ceilings and walls, the smell of gas, electrical shorts, and stopped-up toilet bowls — or no toilet bowls at all.

Andrada described a "wild scramble" last weekend to find 650 plumbers and electricians.

"Imagine, this was on a weekend in Rio," he said. "We called literally all the constructions companies. We literally called every plumber in town."