Vancouver Winter Games torch relay diverted

STAFF WRITER 14:39 HRS IST

Victoria(British Columbia), Oct 31 (AP) Protesters forced the 2010 Vancouver Games torch relay to be diverted from its planned route, hours after organisers kicked off what is supposed to be the longest domestic torch relay in Olympic history.

Several hundred protesters, angry that billions are being spent on the Olympics instead of housing and health care, blocked Victoria city streets for hours yesterday, preventing the torch from passing by Government House and forcing organisers to reroute.

Relay organisers attempted to drive the torchbearers around the demonstration. Instead, they were taken several miles away to Victoria's waterfront.

Then, more than a half-dozen participants lined up side-by-side along the road, where they passed the flame from torch to torch without running their segments.

The run resumed with a short relay to the day's final stop, the provincial legislature.