Burundi Robotics Team Vanishes After U.S. Competition
By EMILY COCHRANEJULY 20, 2017
WASHINGTON — The police were searching on Thursday for six African teenagers who
were reported missing from an international robotics competition in Washington.
Police officials here confirmed that two members of the robotics team from Burundi, Don Ingabire, 16, and Audrey Mwamikazi, 17, were seen entering Canada,
but their destination and current location remained unknown.
The six teenagers were last seen in Washington on Tuesday night near the Daughters of
the American Revolution Constitution Hall, where the robotics competition took place.
Joe Sestak, a former Pennsylvania congressman and retired Navy admiral who is president of First Global, the nonprofit group
that organized the competition, made the initial call to the police shortly after midnight, officials said.
In June, the State Department issued a travel warning for Americans going to Burundi, located between Rwanda
and Tanzania, citing “political tensions, political and criminal violence, and the potential for civil unrest.” The warning took note of a tenuous political situation and reported ambushes and kidnappings.
