New Caledonia: one death and several serious illnesses interrupt the Nouméa marathon

The New Caledonia marathon was interrupted on Sunday in Nouméa after an exceptional series of serious illnesses among the participants, one of which led to the death of a 25-year-old Caledonian, AFP learned on Monday from reliable sources.

The young man, participating in the half-marathon, had just crossed the finish line when he collapsed a few meters from the rescuers' tent, Jérôme Troyat, organizer of the event and president of the Caledonian Athletics League, told AFP.

Taken into care “in the second”, he suffered a cardiac arrest and underwent more than thirty minutes of cardiac massage, without being able to be resuscitated.

In total, eight participants suffered illness serious enough to require treatment, four of whom were evacuated to the Médipôle, Lieutenant-Colonel Géraldine Bourgoin, director of the Nouméa fire and rescue services, told AFP.

According to the organizer, these eight serious cases were concentrated over a period of approximately three quarters of an hour, a “completely unique” situation in 43 editions of the marathon. The multiplication of interventions ended up saturating the emergency resources.

“The organizer was no longer able to ensure the safety and rescue of the runners given the number of victims,” explained the rescue manager. The decision to stop the events was taken after consultation between the organization and the mayor of Nouméa.

The causes of this unusual concentration of discomfort remain unknown. The rescue manager evokes a “multifactorial” phenomenon, believing that the heat could have played a role, while emphasizing the diversity of the victims’ profiles.

The organizer affirms for his part that the weather conditions did not seem particularly unfavorable to him and emphasizes that the people taken care of were athletes. Some 1,525 people took part in the various events of this 43rd edition, according to the organizer.

The Nouméa public prosecutor's office has also opened an investigation into the causes of the young man's death, public prosecutor Yves Dupas said in a press release on Sunday evening. Forensic investigations must now determine precisely the causes of this death.