Two girls treated in intensive care and then flown home.
Third victim, also aged 15, released from hospital with minor injuries.
Three teenage synchronized swimmers from Austria were injured when they were hit by a shuttle bus in the athletes’ village on the eve of the inaugural European Games.
Two of the three girls – all 15 years old – were being flown back to
Austria after being treated in the intensive care unit at a Baku
hospital. The third was released with minor injuries.
The Austrian Olympic Committee said Vanessa Sahinovic had multiple fractures and other severe injuries, Luna Pajer suffered arm injuries, while Verena Breit “got off lightly with slight injuries”.
“The girls were walking on the sidewalk of the Olympic Village when a shuttle bus hit them,” the Austrian committee said. “We’re shocked about the accident and took all necessary steps right away.”
Uliya Gurbanova, a doctor at the Baku city hospital that treated the three, said Sahinovic and Pajer were taken to the airport by Azerbaijani doctors and had already left on a flight to Austria.
The organizing committee for the games, Begoc, said its medical
services “responded to an incident this morning at the transport hub within the athletes’ village in Baku which led to three Austrian
athletes being immediately transported to hospital”.
The opening ceremony of the games will be held on Friday, with the first competitions starting on Saturday.