Seven motorcyclists suffer chemical burns after enduro event in Liepāja

Seven participants of the "Amber Piston Hard Enduro" motorsport event, held on 24 October on the grounds of the former Liepājas Metalurgs steel plant in Liepāja, Latvia, sought help at Liepāja Regional Hospital with chemical burns. Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport in which riders tackle a demanding, rough course. The hospital's public relations and marketing specialist, Indra Grase, confirmed the cases to the news agency LETA.

What is known about the injured

According to Grase, the riders have mild to moderate chemical burns on their lower legs. After being examined, all patients are being treated as outpatients under the supervision of family doctors.

Kaspars Ērkulis, a representative of the Enduro commission of the Latvian Motorsport Federation, said four riders with more serious burns turned to the State Burns Centre to have their health checked. He said the injured include motorcyclists from all three Baltic states. The federation is keeping in touch with them and has urged them to see medics at the slightest suspicion of a problem.

The organisers' explanation

Ērkulis said the federation had obtained all approvals needed to hold the event, and that both the competition and the riders were insured. He explained that the former steel plant site, with abandoned buildings, concrete obstacles and piles of bricks, was well suited to high-difficulty competition. The riders had trained on the course earlier, and nothing had indicated any risk to health.

Érkulis described the incident as an unfortunate coincidence rather than negligence on the part of the organisers.

Establishing the cause

The State Environmental Service, which supervises environmental conditions in Latvia, has taken soil samples. Their composition will be analysed to determine what could have caused the chemical burns. Once the results are available, it should become clearer why the riders were injured.