It is believed a lack of security personnel led to Izwan Isa, 39, his wife Siti Suhaiza Seman, 38, and their children, Muhammad Izz Danial, seven and Nur Zulaikha, four, as well as some other spectators to take the opportunity to get close to the circuit to watch the race.
Checks by Bernama at the scene found that the organisers had only used plastic barricades (jersey barriers) to separate the circuit and the spectators, thus putting anyone who was close to the circuit in danger.
The event’s director Assoc Prof Dr Aminuddin Abu from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) acknowledged that the track was fenced only with plastic barriers and guarded by 25 members from the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela).
“We had marked the racing line area which should not be breached by spectators for safety reasons while watching the race. However, the situation was quite chaotic as many were entering the area and Rela members could not control the situation,” he said when met at the Forensics Unit of the Tengku Ampuan Afzan Hospital (HTAA) here.
He said this was the ninth edition of the Eimarace championship and second one held in Pahang where students from different public and private higher education insttutions (IPTs) create and test their own go-kart engines.
“Such an incident had never occurred before. We will learn from this tragedy and improve the safety aspects of the event in the future,” he said.
Aminuddin said this included not holding the race in open circuits where the public could enter.
This year, a total of 51 teams from across the country took part in the Eimarace championship involving two categories, the 131cc and 250cc go-kart vehicles involving in a 2.2 kilometre race.
Following the accident, the race was stopped and the championship was called-off.
The champion of the 250cc category was supposed to take home the Pahang Menteri Besar Championship Trophy and a cash prize of RM6,000, while the 131cc category champion was to receive the Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT) Championship Trophy and RM4,000.
Meanwhile, in Johor Baharu, UTM vice-chancellor Prof Dr Wahid Omar said the organisers, UTM expressed its condolences to the families of the victims, and handed over the investigation to the police.
He said all the preparations in terms of technical aspects, security, site selection and efforts to obtain approval from the Motorsports Association of Malaysia (MAM) were duly carried out by the university.
In fact, according to him, they had also taken the necessary security measures, including placing water barriers, security tapes, and security personnel at the racing circuit to avoid accidents involving spectators.
“This was in line with the recommendations of MAM, and the race at the open circuit in Indera Mahkota (Pahang) had been certified safe to be participated in by 51 teams from public and private higher education institutions,” he said in a statement.
In the incident at about 11.30am yesterday, Izwan and daughter Nur Zulaikha, were killed after they were hit by a go-kart, which suddenly went out of control and rammed into the stands.
His son Muhammad Izz Danial was injured and has been hospitalised.