Accessibility links

Breaking News

Britain Calls 1,200 More Troops for Olympics


British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond during visit to temporary Army barracks, east London, July 20, 2012.
British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond during visit to temporary Army barracks, east London, July 20, 2012.
Britain's government has decided to deploy 1,200 additional troops to protect venues at the London Olympics, after a private security firm failed to supply enough guards.

Olympics Secretary Jeremy Hunt said Tuesday government ministers believe nothing should be left to chance three days before the start of the largest peacetime event ever in Britain.

The extra troops raise Britain's military deployment for the Olympics to 18,200.

Private security provider G4S was contracted to bring in about 10,000 security personnel but apologized for not hiring enough staff to fulfill its commitment.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG