Color Run organiser: Zero fire-related incidents in 500 global events

SINGAPORE - The organiser of the Color Run, an event where runners are doused with coloured powder, has assured the public that the activity is safe.

This came after an explosion at a "colour party" held inside a water park in Taiwan on Saturday, which led to at least one death and seriously hurt more than 200 people.

"The Color Run has no association with the venue, organisers, or equipment used at the Taiwan incident," a spokesman for its organiser, IMG Worldwide, told The Straits Times on Monday.

"We have had zero fire-related incidents in five hundred global events with more than four million participants," he said.

"However, we take the events that occurred in Taipei very seriously," he added.

The Color Run, where participants are doused with different coloured powders through a 5km route, will be held for the third time at Sentosa in Singapore on Aug 22 and 23. But some people are worried after the explosion in Taiwan.

The Straits Times understands that there have been cancellation queries for the Singapore run and that the organiser is handling these "on a one-to-one basis".

Close to 500 revellers were injured in the explosion at the Color Play Asia event at the Formosa Fun Coast water park, just outside the capital Taipei, on Saturday evening. A 20-year-old woman died two days later, after suffering second degree burns on over 90 per cent of her body.

The blaze is suspected to have been caused by an explosion of the coloured powder made of corn starch, according to officials.

The incident prompted some to post on The Color Run Singapore's Facebook page, asking if the event was still safe and about the colour powder used. According to The Color Run website, the colour powder is also made of cornstarch.

But the spokesman for IMG Worldwide has assured the public that it is "committed to staging safe and secure events".

"The safety of our runners and clients is of paramount importance to us," he added.

limyihan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on June 29, 2015.
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