Burundi teenage robotics team missing after US contest

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Six teenagers from Burundi have gone missing after attending an international robot contest held in Washington earlier this week, and two of them were reported to have entered Canada, police have said.

The four males and two females, who took part in the contest as a team, were last seen late Tuesday afternoon when the FIRST Global Challenge ended, authorities said Thursday.

Police have issued photos of those missing teenagers, and a spokesperson with the DC police said that 17-year-old Audrey Mwamikazi and 16-year-old Don Ingabire were seen crossing the US border into Canada, without giving details about how the two Burundians were spotted or the nature of their border-crossings.

Twitter Photo

Canadian authorities said they could neither confirm nor deny the pair of teenagers' reported entry into the country.

Burundi has long been troubled by civil war. The Burundian Embassy in Washington said that neither did it know about the robot contest nor the participation of a Burundian team.

FIRST Global Challenge competitions at DAR Constitution Hall, in Washington, DC. /VCG Photo

The organizer said the teenagers, who were granted one-year visas, put the keys to their rooms in their mentor's bag but took their clothes with them.

The other missing Burundian teenagers were Nice Munezero, 17; Kevin Sabumukiza, 17; Richard Irakoze, 18; and Aristide Irambona, 18.

(Source: Xinhua)

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