Four Paralympic cyclists injured in crash
A pickup truck rammed into athletes who were training on a highway for the upcoming Asean Para Games.
FOUR national Paralympic cyclists were injured when they were rammed by a pickup truck near Batu Arang in Selangor yesterday.
One of them, Nur Syafiq Suhaimy, 19, suffered a broken bone (fibula) in his leg in the incident at Km12.5 of the KLKuala Selangor Expressway at 11am.
The others were Mohd Nor Rizuan Zainal, 31; Khairul Azwan Wahab, 25; and Khairul Nizam Mohd Ali, 23.
They were preparing for the Asean Para Games here next week.
Coach Johari Nayan said the incident occurred when he was conducting a training session with the cyclists, who were on two tandem bicycles.
He said Nur Syafiq would not be able to compete in the games.
“The others are being treated for some fractures and abrasions, but nothing as severe as we initially suspected.
“It is unlikely that we will make it to the games at full strength.”
Johari said Nor Rizuan and Khairul Azwan, who represented the country at the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro last year, were tipped to win a gold medal in the individual time trial at the games.
Johari said Nur Syafiq and Khairul Nizam had targeted a gold medal in the tandem road race, in their debut appearance in the games.
“The truck driver has destroyed us in a split second. I really can’t imagine this happening.”
He said their escort vehicles had hazard lights turned on and that the blinkers on his motorcycle were flashing.
“All of a sudden, we were knocked down. Before I knew it, I was on the ground.
“An eyewitness told me that he saw the black pickup truck that knocked us down.”
All four cyclists were treated at Sungai Buloh Hospital.
On possible changes to the team line-up at the games, Johari said this was an opportunity for the reserve tandem team, piloted by former national track sprinter Faizal Mohd Noh and his blind stoker, Aiman Asyraff Ahmad Bajuri.
“We can slot Faizal and Aiman as replacements.
“They have to be ready, so we will make a decision soon,” said Johari, who was also treated for abrasions and bruises at the same hospital.
Assistant coach Mohd Iqbal Sokri said the cyclists were about 200m ahead of the team van when the accident happened.
“When we reached the scene, we found them lying on the road.”
Page 1 pic: Two of the injured paralympian cyclists lying on the road after they were rammed by a pickup truck at Km12.5 of the KL-Kuala Selangor Expressway yesterday.