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Symons died in rippling sand
09/01/2007 18:07 - (SA)
Paul Defosseux
Ouarzazate, Morocco - South African motorcyclist Elmer Symons was killed in an accident during the fourth stage of the Dakar Rally on Tuesday, race organisers announced.
He was the first competitor to die during this year's race.
The 679km fourth stage over rugged Moroccan desert terrain was from Er Rachidia to Ouarzazate as the motorcycles and cars taking part in the gruelling annual race headed south for the Senegalese capital Dakar.
Organisers were informed during the morning that there had been an accident at kilometre 142 and a helicopter was despatched to the scene.
Doctors pronounced Symons, who had been riding a KTM 660, dead when they arrived at the scene of the accident, organisers said in a communique.
Symons, a 29-year-old US-based company chief, was taking part in the race for the first time as a competitor having twice completed the course as part of the backup teams. He had been in 18th place overall at the time of the accident.
"We do not know the exact details of what caused the accident or how the motorcyclist died," rally director Etienne Lavigne told AFP.
"The accident occurred on a sector that had been labelled dangerous with rippling sand formations.
Killed outright
"The rally's nerve centre in Paris received an automatic satellite alert which indicated that the motorbike had come to an abrupt halt. The pilot was no doubt killed outright."
Symons' body had been taken to a morgue in Er Rachidia, Lavigne added.
The Dakar rally has been mired in controversy since its inception as the Paris to Dakar rally in 1979 with a regular black list of competitors killed during the race, especially motorcyclists.
Last year, Australian motorcyclist Andy Caldecott was killed when he crashed on the ninth stage, with two similar deaths to Spaniard Jose Manuel Perez and Italian Fabrizio Meoni marring the previous year's race.
Symons was the 48th death associated with the rally.
The race has also been slammed for cutting a swathe through desert areas and villages and endangering local lives. Two boys were hit and killed by vehicles last year provoking another outcry that the Dakar should be scrapped.
- SAPA
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