Fire Rips Through Olympic Sports Facility in Brazil

A major fire tore through the roof of the velodrome at Rio de Janeiro’s Olympic Park in the early hours of Wednesday morning, sending some 80 firefighters and 20 fire engines rushing to the scene.

The velodrome is not just a sports facility. It is home to the Olympic Museum, which holds exhibits and artefacts from the 2016 Rio Games, the first Olympics ever held in South America.

It is not the first time the roof has gone up in flames. The velodrome caught fire twice in 2017, with both incidents blamed on falling sky lanterns.

The fire department received the call at just after 4 a.m. local time. Crews battled the blaze from both inside and outside the building while also working to protect museum artefacts housed within the venue.

No one was injured.