Olympic team briefed after horrifying gang rape of Australian woman in Paris just days before Games get under way

Australian athletes competing at the Olympic Games have been warned not to go out alone or in their sports uniforms after an Australian woman was raped by five men in Paris.

French authorities have launched a major investigation into the brutal attack, which took place in the northern Pigalle district in the early hours of Saturday morning, just days before the Olympic Games begin.

Australian chef de mission Anna Meares said she had not received any reports of threats against team members but was advised to be careful when leaving the athletes’ village.

“I have been informed, it sounds terrible. Obviously our thoughts are with the woman involved and we hope she is cared for and supported in the trauma she has experienced,” Meares said on Tuesday morning.

“Not many details and information have come forward.”

Meares stressed that team members had been extensively briefed on safety measures.

“The information we are relaying to our athletes is that security is very, very high and they can take action as quickly as possible to keep the athletes safe,” she said.

“We have not had any feedback from our athletes that they feel unsafe. We encourage them, when they leave the village, not to go alone, not to wear their team kit, but to just wear normal clothes.

A 25-year-old woman sought refuge in a kebab shop in Paris after being brutally raped by five men at around 5am. But moments later, one of the woman’s (blurred left in the image) alleged rapists (circled) approached her before ‘fondling’ her

“We are still waiting for more information about the case itself.”

The attack took place in the early morning of Saturday (local time) on the Boulevard de Clichy.

The opening ceremony of the Games is on Friday evening.

The women had already been drinking in the bars and clubs around the Moulin Rouge on Friday evening before the men approached them at an unknown location.

She told police she was attacked by a group of five men ‘of African appearance’ at around 5am and brutally raped before escaping and seeking safety in the nearby Dounia kebab shop.

CCTV footage from the Lebanese restaurant on Boulevard de Clinchy in the 18th arrondissement shows the terrified 25-year-old sitting inside the restaurant begging the owners for help as staff and other customers try in vain to comfort her.

Then a man enters the kebab shop, but the woman gestures that he is part of the group that just attacked her.

Harrowing security footage has captured the moment a visibly distraught Australian woman sought refuge in a Parisian kebab shop after she was allegedly gang-raped. People are pictured helping the woman, who is blurred, outside the kebab shop

The Australian woman sought refuge in the kebab shop in Paris but was confronted by one of the men who had attacked her minutes earlier. Bystanders are pictured talking to the woman, who is blurred, and police

Then the alleged rapist walks up to her, taps her on the shoulder and orders some food.

A guest then confronts the alleged rapist and strikes as staff try to separate them. The man then leaves the restaurant.

Staff and customers, including several men and a blonde woman in a beige dress, continue to comfort the woman until police arrive.

Two officers can be seen talking to the woman about the horrific event, after which she is taken to hospital in Bichat.

The woman, who was described as having her dress “inside out,” also claimed her cell phone had been stolen.

The footage could be crucial to French authorities’ investigation into the alarming incidents, which have cast a pall over the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in the city later this week.

The woman was said to be “disoriented and unable to speak a word of French” when she told police what had happened. She reportedly could not provide details about the exact location or circumstances surrounding the attack.

“Her memory of the evening is extremely vague, but she says she was raped by as many as five men,” said a source who conducted the investigation.

‘She was seen wandering around Pigalle, in a state of confusion and distress.

“Employees at a kebab shop noticed she was wearing her dress backwards when she went inside to get help,” the source said.

The Paris prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the video on Tuesday, but confirmed that a judicial investigation had been opened into the accusation of gang rape.

No arrests have been made and no descriptions of suspected attackers have been released.

According to reports, the woman had booked a flight home for the day after the attack, but is now said to be in Paris to help police with their investigation.

The Boulevard de Clinchy, famous for its art and theatre venues, is located in the centre of Paris’ famous red light district. Next to the kebab shop where the woman sought refuge, there is a lap dance club and a sex shop.

It is also less than five kilometres from the Stade de France, which will be the centrepiece of the Olympic Games, which start on Friday.