Swedish team escape German hotel fire

Sweden's biathlon team, who are building towards the Winter Olympics, escaped uninjured from a hotel fire at a tournament in Germany, the sport's international federation said Thursday. According to police in the Bavarian town of Ruhpolding, the blaze was caused by a technical problem and the alarm raised at 8 a.m. "We had a guardian angel," Anders Bystrom, the team's national co-ordinator, told Swedish newspaper, Expressen. The athletes were moved to a house nearby and took part in a men's World Cup event later in the afternoon where they finished in fourth spot. The 2014 Winter Olympics get underway in Sochi on February 7. Source: AFP