Officials reassure athletes after chicken pox outbreak, and discount talk of 9/11-style attack
A chicken pox outbreak has hit the Asian Games, but officials yesterday played down reports of a 9/11 copycat terror attempt and said there was no truth that an aircraft had been sighted flying low over the Qatari capital and close to a government building.
Three athletes from the Maldivian men's volleyball squad have been placed in isolation at the city's Hamad Hospital after they broke out in a rash which was diagnosed to be chicken pox. A senior games official insisted that the problem would not affect the rest of the 10,500 competitors.
'These athletes from Maldives were isolated immediately and as they had arrived last Friday, not many other athletes had come to the village at the time,' said Dr Abdullah Al-Mussleh, the games' programme manager for health and doping control. 'Most of the competitors are coming in only now and in the past few days.'
Organisers were quick to discount 'eye-witness' reports that an aircraft had been sighted flying low over Doha yesterday and said stringent security measures were in place. A games security taskforce with more than 6,000 personnel has been employed to ensure the two-week event, which officially starts tomorrow, will be trouble-free.
'Nothing has been reported to the national command centre. We have not heard anything about an aircraft flying close to buildings,' said Ahmed Abdullah Al Khulaifi, spokesman for the organising committee. 'Don't worry, just enjoy the games. I can assure everyone, athletes and visitors, that Qatar will be very safe and very secure.'
Qatar is regarded as an island of stability in a volatile region. But a suicide car bombing last year sent shockwaves through the tiny nation and the government is taking no chances with security.