6 Burundian teens go missing after robotics competition in the US
United States authorities have begun a frantic search for six Burundi teenagers belonging to a robotics team who have been reported missing since Wednesday.
The teens: Don Ingabire (16), Audrey Mwamikazi (17), Richard Irakoze (18), Kevin Sabumukiza (17), Nice Munezero (17), and Aristide Irambona (18), had been chosen from schools around the country’s capital to participate in the first international high school robotics competition, labelled the First Global Challenge, earlier this week.
They were last seen on Tuesday, the final day of the competition, according to reports.
Two of the teens, Ingabire and Mwamikazi, were reportedly last seen heading to Canada from the United States, where the international robotics competition held.
A mentor, Canesius Bindaba, who accompanied the students, reported that they had gone missing and “does not know where [they] could have went.”
There are suggestive reports that the teens, who all had one-year visas to the U.S, may have decided to flee rather than return to their native country which has been embroiled in political unrest since 2015.
Human Rights Watch say more than 400,000 people have fled the country since the unrest began.
The Metropolitan Police Department say there is “no indication of foul play”, but say the case is under investigation.
