Women's Basketball World Cup teams staying at a hotel in Berlin were evacuated twice in three days due to unrelated incidents that triggered fire alarms. The most recent evacuation occurred early Tuesday morning when a fire started in a neighboring parking facility.
FIBA reported that the alarm sounded at 9:06 a.m. local time. Players and staff followed safety procedures and assembled outside the hotel before returning to their rooms approximately 21 minutes later. The organization stated that the alarm was activated due to a fire in the garbage room of an underground parking facility adjacent to the hotel, and that police are investigating the exact circumstances. No injuries were reported, and FIBA confirmed there would be no changes to the tournament schedule.
The U.S. team was not affected by either evacuation as they are staying at a different hotel.
The incident on Tuesday took place on the opening day of the tournament's knockout stage. The previous evacuation occurred early Sunday morning when an alarm forced teams out of the same hotel for about an hour. At that time, FIBA stated the alarm was due to steam in the hotel's kitchen during cleaning. Australia's coach Sandy Brondello had reportedly been told that an emergency alarm was activated in an elevator.
FIBA emphasized that the safety of all participants is its priority and that measures are being taken to ensure teams are in the best possible conditions to compete.