Aportadera said the city government, together with the IRONMAN 70.3 organizers made sure to help the family of the deceased. The city also extended assistance for the burial scheduled Monday (Mar.27) based on the Islamic custom.
Other forms of assistance for the bereaved family are also being prepared by the city, according to Aportadera.
“We already required some of the safety cluster to provide us with the matters of information,” Aportadera said in a reportfrom the City Information Office.
Meanwhile, a moment of silence was offered for the deceased during Monday’s flag-raising ceremony at Davao City Hall.
He said that in the world of extreme sports, fatalities and injuries are unavoidable. He said that previous IRONMAN 70.3 triathlon races held in different parts of the world had also resulted in some fatalities and injuries.
However, the death of the veteran swimmer and athlete raises questions that must be answered.
“The races before in different countries around the world, basta IRONMAN, there are some fatalities and some injuries,” Aportadera said.
“But as a city, we would not want that to happen. Nobody did. We will look into the matter at least there is clarity for what happened,” he added.
Aportadera further said that upon initial evaluation, there was no failure in the numerous safety measures set in place during the race, and that the incident may be the result of circumstances that were beyond the security and safety cluster’s capacity.
The city has “installed the MACC- the Multi-Agency Coordinating Center. All the agencies including air assets, water assets, medical assets, and security were all together,” he said.
Emergency responders were able to instantly reach the swimmer during the incident, said the sports chief.
“Our water assets were able to attend to him right away. And divers were able to see him right away. There were a lot of coast guards, there were lifeguards on the surface and divers below. That was why he was immediately attended to and brought to the hospital,” he said.
Aportadera said medical responders were able to resuscitate the swimmer and take him to the hospital where he eventually succumbed to what was reported by a family member as a heart attack.
The city, meanwhile, also extended assistance to the 18-year-old Gerald Tayag who suffered serious injuries when hit by a bike in Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
Aportadera said the city is currently in close coordination with the Panabo medical center to monitor the latter’s status.