Police Brigadier General Alden Delvo, director of the Police Regional Office in Davao Region (PRO-11), told media on Monday that based on his assessment, the holding of the recently concluded Alveo Ironman 70.3 Davao Philippines was successful despite some tragedies.
One of the casualties was a local triathlete, who died in the middle the race.
The victim, identified by some media outlets in Davao City as Jerry Kasim, was a veteran swim coach of Davao. According to reports he suffered a heart attack during the swim portion of the race.
“He did not really drown right there. Nakita namo 20 meters away from start area. At 7:30 a.m. he was brought to the hospital and revived by 12 noon nabawian siya ng buhay. Dili nato gusto mahitabo ni, it was an accident and health issues,” Delvo said in an interview.
Another accident transpired in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, which was part of the cycling route of the race.
Reportedly, an 18-year-old male got into accident with a cycling participant when he picked a water bottle at middle of the road.
As of this writing, the victim was reportedly in comatose.
“Ang dungog nako na istorya mitabok para mukuha sa water bottle then nabangga siya sa participant. Hopefully, he will recover,” Delvo said.
Meanwhile, organizer Princess Galura, general manager of Sunrise Events Inc., lauded the safety and security cluster of the city for the immediate response to both incidents.
“Ang importante is we were able to respond immediately. Everybody is aware of the danger and things can happen in the race. Things changed, like in the morning the weather, ready kami sa heat tapos yung current ang lakas pala. Ang importante sa Ironman group at sa city government of Davao is gaano kabilis naka respond sa mga ganoong sitwasyon,” Galura told Edge Davao.
