Fire scare for Indian U-23 football team in Dhaka
31 March 2015 1:00 AM GMT
The Indian Under-23 football team, here for the Asian Championship, on Monday survived a fire scare when smoke was spotted coming out from the rear end of the team bus. The team was on its way back to the team hotel after the Monday morning recovery session when the smell of something burning pervaded the bus and smoke was spotted in the rear end of the vehicle, according to an AIFF release on Monday.
The 30-member contingent was left stranded on the streets for a short while before being eventually dropped off at the team hotel by the escorting police jeeps in turns. A few of the support staff, including head coach Savio Medeira, even walked towards the team hotel before being picked up by vans which were shuttling to offer help to the members of the stranded squad. “It was scary. For a moment we were flummoxed. We just couldn’t understand what to do. I need to thank the local police in Bangladesh for their timely support and cooperation without which we could have ended up worse,” head coach Medeira said in the release.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Football Federation general secretary Abu Nayeem Sohag met Medeira and enquired about the incident and assured full cooperation from their side. Nevertheless, the shock on the faces of the players was very much evident even after settling down at the hotel. Even as they went through their routine treatment, rest and meals, the incident kept coming back to haunt them, they said.
“It’s my responsibility to see the players stay relaxed and get in the mood for the match,” Medeira commented at the pre-match media interaction.
The 30-member contingent was left stranded on the streets for a short while before being eventually dropped off at the team hotel by the escorting police jeeps in turns. A few of the support staff, including head coach Savio Medeira, even walked towards the team hotel before being picked up by vans which were shuttling to offer help to the members of the stranded squad. “It was scary. For a moment we were flummoxed. We just couldn’t understand what to do. I need to thank the local police in Bangladesh for their timely support and cooperation without which we could have ended up worse,” head coach Medeira said in the release.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Football Federation general secretary Abu Nayeem Sohag met Medeira and enquired about the incident and assured full cooperation from their side. Nevertheless, the shock on the faces of the players was very much evident even after settling down at the hotel. Even as they went through their routine treatment, rest and meals, the incident kept coming back to haunt them, they said.
“It’s my responsibility to see the players stay relaxed and get in the mood for the match,” Medeira commented at the pre-match media interaction.
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