Commonwealth Games 2022: Two more Team Sri Lanka members go missing in Birmingham

Two more members of the Sri Lanka team have gone missing in the UK after the Commonwealth Games 2022, representative Gobinath Sivarajah told BirminghamWorld.

A photographer and an official has disappeared bringing the total up to 12, he said. West Midlands Police previously found two of the sports team, but their whereabouts have not been revealed to Sivarajah.

Since they are legally allowed to remain in the UK and hold valid visas for six months, no action was taken. It is not known where the other ten members of the team are.

On Monday (August 8) West Midlands Police issued a statement about the disappearances of Team Sri Lanka members. It said: “We are currently aware of seven reports of missing people relating to Birmingham 2022 and our carrying out enquiries to continue to ensure they are safe and well.”

BirminghamWorld has contacted the force for a further update today. We will update our story as soon as we hear.

The Team Sri Lankan officials had held on to the passports of their team members to ensure that they would exit the UK for Sri Lanka with them. However, the police made them give the passports of the athletes who were located, Sivarajah previously said to AFP.

Sivarajah said that some of the remaining contingent are leaving today (Tuesday, August 9) and the last of them will leave tomorrow.

He also added there has been no statement from the government of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government has been approached for comment and they have not responded.

The country has been going through an economic crisis which lead to the former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing the country. He resigned from the position after mass protests took place over the severe crisis.

Reuters previously reported that the island nation would have to go into debt restructuring talks with China, who is a major lender to the country.

The West Midlands Police have been contacted regarding the latest disappearances.

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