3 taken to hospital, several others treated after cycling accident at World Police and Fire Games

Three people were taken to hospital and several others were treated after a cycling accident during a World Police and Fire Games event at Birds Hill Provincial Park on Wednesday morning.

Thousands of first responders from across Canada and around the world were in Winnipeg for the Olympic-style competition, which kicked off last Friday and runs until Aug. 6.

Mike Edwards, chief operating officer of this year's games, said a pack of seven cyclists were about 13 kilometres into one of the first races of the day when the accident occurred at the park, just northeast of Winnipeg.

"They just bumped into each other and it took them out, kinda like dominoes," he told CBC News.

The majority of the 35 to 40 people racing on the course at the time of the accident were over 55 years old, he said.

Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre cared for three of the injured, according to Shared Health. Two are expected to be released today and one is awaiting testing to see if they may need to be held for overnight observation, according to Edwards.

The other four were assessed at Birds Hill Park and determined they were able to go to the hospital on their own, he said.

Seven ambulances, a STARS air ambulance and a medical first response vehicle were all dispatched in response to the Wednesday incident, a Shared Health spokesperson said in a statement to CBC News.

No one needed to be transported to hospital by the air ambulance, said Edwards. There were medical personnel lined up throughout the course, as well as ambulances positioned nearby.

"They were able to get to those athletes in minutes or less because we were able to station them in key points within the course," he said.

"I'm happy to report that all athletes are in stable condition."

Larry Collins, federation president of the games, said he's happy that no one died in the accident.

"We're always going to try to be safe … but accidents happen," he said. "It was a true accident, that's what I've been told."

Course shut down

He says a cycling official with the games went to one of the hospitals to visit the injured.

"That's what we do. We follow up. We need to let the family know that we care," said Collins.

"We just pray that everybody comes out of this very well."

The course was shut down immediately to focus on athlete safety, Edwards says. Every course is examined and swept for debris prior to the races.

A code orange — which is typically activated in response to possible mass casualty events — was initiated for less than an hour at Health Sciences Centre shortly after noon on Wednesday, the Shared Health spokesperson said.