delegate

“You only had a short time to speak so there’s a pressure to talk even if no one can hear you,” she added, saying that some delegates were shouting into microphones just to be heard.

Thailand is hosting Miss Universe for the fourth time and its delegate this year is considered a frontrunner by fan websites.

A fire erupted at a pavilion inside the venue of the UN's climate talks in Brazil on Thursday, prompting panicked delegates to run for the exits, AFP journalists said.

The Miss Universe Organisation on Tuesday put out a statement to rebuff Mr Harfouch's claims, saying that "no external group has been authorised to evaluate delegates or select finalists".

"It would be a way of putting pressure on delegates to move quickly to resolve issues," David Waskow, international climate director at the World Resources Institute think tank, told AFP.