The 44th edition of Dakar Rally kicked off from Saudi Arabia’s financial hub on New Year’s Day with a short 19km Prologue, but attention was quickly diverted at around 18:30 local time by an official press released issued by ASO.
In the text, the organiser issued a safety alert for the 3,500 or so inhabitants of the touring camp following a bizarre incident on December 29 at the Donatello Hotel in Jeddah where a car exploded.
In a first statement, issued on December 30 at 22:51, ASO said it was ” aware of an incident that occured this morning outside the Hotel Donatello, which resulted in the injury of one driver”. It said that the driver was being treated in a hospital in the Red Sea coastal city, that his vehicle had suddenly stopped and started to burn.
ASO promised to investigate the incident and to pass on more information when available, saying it was in constant contact with the local authorities to ” implement all necessary measures to ensure the full safety of all Dakar…
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