7 Hong Kong Streetathon runners still missing bags as Wi-fi failure blamed for chaos
Organiser RunOurCity says team was unable to scan QR codes during peak hours due to discrepancy in signal strength and Wi-fi breakdown
Seven runners’ personal belongings are still missing after a chaotic baggage collection process at the Kerry Hong Kong Streetathon, which the organiser blamed on a Wi-fi system failure.
Andes Leung Pak-hang, CEO and co-founder of event organiser RunOurCity, apologised on Monday for the chaos, which left runners scavenging through thousands of bags for hours after the race to find their belongings.
Leung said the team had wanted to “race against time” and decided to use a new technology this year to log and sort runners’ bags by race groups.
“By scanning a QR code on the runners’ bibs, we can locate which area their bag is in, supposedly reducing time spent on manually arranging the bags,” he told a radio show.
“Due to a discrepancy in the expected signal strength and the breakdown of a Wi-fi system, we were unable to scan the codes at all during peak hours.”
He added that a backup system had been prepared, but it also failed to function, forcing staff to handle bags manually.