On Saturday (27th June) night, one person was killed and more than 500 people were injured after a fire stemmed from an explosion ripped through the crowd at Taiwan’s Formosa Fun Coast water park. The freak incident has, inevitably, affected many other events, especially the infamous 5km fun run in Malaysia, The Color Run.
Billed as the “Happiest 5K on the planet”, The Color Run promotes healthiness, happiness, and individuality by bringing the community together in the one day event. But in the wake of the blast at the Taiwanese water park involving coloured powder, many runners and interested participants have raised concerns about the fun run.
In response to their concerns and media queries, The Color Run’s organiser IMG Worldwide clarified that “the powder used in its events have been tested for flammability and successfully passed the required EU standards”. The organiser also said that it has “no association with the venue, organisers, or equipment used at the Taiwan incident”.
The full statement, which was posted on their official Facebook page, is as follows:
The Color Run™ can confirm that the powder used in its events has been tested for flammability and successfully passed the required EU standards. The powder used in the tragic incident in Taipei was different from that used in Color Run™ events and was not provided by the Color Run™ supplier.
As previously stated, The Color Run™ has no association with the venue, organizers, or equipment used at the Taiwan incident. However, we take the events that occurred in Taipei very seriously as the health and safety of our participants and our employees has always been at the forefront of our minds and actions.
We have had zero fire-related incidents in 500 global events with more than 4 million participants. We are committed to staging safe and secure events.
Following the unfortunate incident in Taiwan, IMG told Channel NewsAsia on Monday (29th June) that “over a dozen enquiries” were sent to them, and that “the number of people asking for a refund is in single figures”.
Though they reassured participants by stating that the safety of their runners and clients “is of paramount importance” to them, they would still comply requests for a refund.
Meanwhile, the annual Rang de Holi in Singapore is promised to be a safe event as well, as the organisers also told Channel News Asia that they’ve emphasised their focus on safety.
Mr Rajesh Misir, the chairman of the Rang de Holi 2015 organising committee, stated that a private company has been hired to handle security and ensure the public safety. He said, “I have got 17 to 18 officers around. Fire exit points are handled by my security – they plan the entire layout”.
He added:
I don’t think there’s going to be much of a backlash because I think people in Singapore know the Government does quite a good job in terms of scanning what’s actually coming in. Given the current events, I’m sure there’ll be greater measures in place for us to bring in these powders, so I think it’s quite safe to attend the events around.
The annual event, which was held on 7th March this year at Kembangan, is a celebration of festival of colours. It involves people throwing organic and plant-based holi powder at each other to celebrate the coming of spring in India. It was revealed that the powder that they use is flown in from India.
Source: Channel News Asia
