Gardaí seek six missing Olympians

Gardaí were tonight searching for a total of six athletes and coaches who failed to catch their flights home from the first staging in Ireland of the Special Olympic Games.

Gardaí were tonight searching for a total of six athletes and coaches who failed to catch their flights home from the Special Olympic Games.

The week-long games ended on Sunday and most of the 7,000 athletes and supporting personnel flew out today.

But three athletes and a coach from Niger and coaches from Pakistan and Sudan did not arrive at Dublin airport for their scheduled return and their planes left without them.

The four missing men from Niger, aged between 21 and 37, left their accommodation at a Dublin hotel on Sunday morning to go on a shopping trip in the city centre.

Police said none of that group spoke much English and their native tongue is French. Officers said they were concerned for their welfare.

A spokesman said: “We just need to contact them to confirm they are all well.”