Reports: Missing Uganda weightlifter spotted on camera

Ugandan weightlifter Julius Ssekitoleko has apparently been spotted on a security camera at the station.[photo courtesy]

A man resembling Ugandan weightlifter Julius Ssekitoleko has reportedly been spotted on a surveillance camera at JR Nagoya Station, around 200km from where he was staying. 

Ssekitoleko went missing from his pre-Olympic training camp in Izumisano City on Friday after he failed to qualify for the Games after his arrival in Japan and was due to fly back to Uganda today (July 20).

He left a note which said, "I want to live in Japan because my life in Uganda is difficult".

The note also asked members of his delegation to give his belongings to his wife in Uganda.

According to Japan times, Izumisano officials said a security camera at a nearby train station recorded the 20-year-old weightlifter purchasing a bullet train ticket to Nagoya in central Japan.

He had a mobile phone but his passport was kept by the Ugandan team.

Nagoya is the prefectural capital of Aichi.

The city reportedly has the second-largest Ugandan population in Japan.

Around 150 Ugandan people are believed to live in the city.

He was part of a nine-member Ugandan delegation to travel to Japan last month, with two subsequently testing positive for COVID-19.

One case was reported at the airport, with the second discovered after the team had arrived at the training camp.

Ssekitoleko's last test before his disappearance was reported to have been negative.