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Paralympics 100 days away; city planning ticket give-away

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Tickets sales for the Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games are lagging, but they are getting a big boost from an unexpected source — the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Philip Craven, the head of the International Paralympic Committee , told The Associated Press in an interview that 33 percent of 2.5 million tickets had been sold, compared to 67 percent of 6 million Olympic tickets.

He said the city government of Rio de Janeiro was buying a large chunk of Paralympic tickets. He estimated about 500,000, a number the city hall declined to confirm.