Slave Route Challenge tragedy: ‘I heard this sound. I thought it was a stampede’ - runner

CapeTalk’s Clarence Ford speaks with Kim Wyngaard, who ran the race and witnessed the incident.

Listen below:

Tragedy struck at the annual Slave Route Challenge in Cape Town on Sunday when a tree collapsed near the 4km mark, killing one woman.

The runner was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to her injuries.

Event organisers are working with authorities to establish the circumstances that led to her death.

Wyngaard was about 50 metres ahead of the woman when the incident happened.

“I heard this sound, which I initially thought was a stampede or something, and as I turned around, I just saw this tree falling over.”

- Kim Wyngaard, participant - Slave Route Challenge 

RELATED: Slave Route Challenge organisers, authorities investigating circumstances that led to runner's death

Wyngaard says people immediately started panicking, with some running towards the tree and others running away to safety.

“At the time, we did not know how bad it was; we just knew that someone was caught under the tree.”

- Kim Wyngaard, participant - Slave Route Challenge 

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