Organiser: Driver of car who hit runners a Rela member

KUANTAN: The driver of the car that hit four participants of the Run Out Pahang Marathon 2018 was a Rela member and not one of its employees, the event organiser says.

Monkey Theory Sdn Bhd CEO Leong Delon said checks found that the driver was tasked with coordinating the positioning of other Rela volunteers along the marathon route.

“We wish to point this out as some newspapers identified the driver only as a ‘volunteer’, which could imply that she was our employee,” he said in a statement yesterday.

The driver is believed to have lost control of the car before hitting the runners.

Chua Yennie, 21, Ahmad Fakhri Sulaiman, 31, Nurulhuda Ahmad Razali, 32, and Haslinda Othman, 41, were injured in the incident on Sunday.

Leong said Monkey Theory had complied with all safety guidelines stipulated by the authorities, and had even implemented additional measures of its own.

“As an organiser of various largescale world-class events, we would like to reiterate that the safety of everyone involved has always been our highest priority.

“In this particular event, all the runners were provided a dedicated lane along the entire route, which was properly blocked off with cones.

“However, the car somehow encroached into the runners’ lane,” he said.

Leong added that Monkey Theory was working closely with the rele- vant authorities to determine the cause of the incident and would render all necessary help to the victims and their families.

Kuantan police chief Asst Comm Mohd Noor Yusof Ali said investigations were still ongoing.

It is understood that police took a statement from the 28-year-old driver, whose blood and urine had also been sent for testing.