Four boys and two girls – aged from 16 to 18 – disappeared during the First Global Challenge tournament in Washington DC.

The DC Police Department says they were last seen on Tuesday – on the closing day of the competition.

Reports say two of the teenagers have since crossed into Canada but this has not been confirmed by the police.

On Thursday, the DC Police Department posted fliers of the missing group on its Twitter page, asking members of the public to get in touch if they had any information.

The teenagers were identified as Don Ingabire, 16, Kevin Sabumukiza, 17, Nice Munezero, 17, Audrey Mwamikazi, 17, Richard Irakoze, 18, and Aristide Irambona, 18.

Competition organisers say they alerted police after Burundi’s team supervisor was unable to find the teenagers.

In a statement, First Global Challenge spokesman Jose Escotto said “the proper reports have been submitted to the police who are investigating the case”, according to the Washington Post.

The three-day robotics competition saw teams from 150 nations compete against each other.

The event aims to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.

However, it made the news earlier this month after a team of girls from Afghanistan were initially not allowed to attend the competition because of visa problems.

But US President Donald Trump stepped in at the last minute and the girls were able to travel to the US and participate.

The Afghan team later won a silver medal for courageous achievement, which was awarded to teams “that exhibit a can-do attitude throughout the challenge, even under difficult circumstances, or when things do not go as planned”.

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Source: BBC

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US President Donald Trump had urged authorities to rethink their decision, AP news agency said.

A US travel ban is in place for six Muslim-majority countries, which does not include Afghanistan.

Students from The Gambia earlier also had their visa rejection overturned.

According to AP, Homeland Security Department spokesman David Lapan said the visas for the Afghan girls had been approved after a request by the state department.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders attributed the request to an intervention by President Trump, the news agency said.

The competition organised by non-profit group First Global will see teams from 164 countries compete in a series of robotic games.

“I am most grateful to the US Government and its state department for ensuring Afghanistan, as well as Gambia, would be able to join us for this international competition this year,” First Global president Joe Sestak said in a statement.

The Afghan team of six teenage high school students are participating in the competition which runs 16-18 July with a ball-sorting robot.

First Global aims to promote Stem subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths).

“All 163 teams from 157 countries have gained approval to the United States, including Iran, Sudan, and a team of Syrian refugees,” Mr Sestak said. “I could not be more proud.”

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Source: BBC

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