Hurricane Rain Hit Tents, TV And Fans At The Banda Aceh National Hope Stadium, Running Athletes Scattered

BANDA ACEH - The arena for the archery match was destroyed by thunderstorms after the semifinals of the men's and women's national events at the XXI/2024 National Sports Week (PON) Aceh-North Sumatra at the Harapan Bangsa Stadium, Banda Aceh, today.

Monitoring at the location, tents on the left side of the arena collapsed with strong winds raised, while other tents were released from several of their tarup connections.

In addition, a number of fans and other facilities fell and were wet due to thunderstorms. One television unit in the stands also fell and was wet by rain.

Athletes who were resting at the ishoma break at around 11.45 WIB were also busy running into the middle of the field due to the storm that shook the athletes' tents.

The panel of judges for the archery match, Ilham Maulana, said that the national number match, which was supposed to resume at 13.00 WIB, was likely to be postponed to an undetermined time.

"It might be postponed first, we have to arrange it again. Earlier, many target boards fell, right, so it was postponed first," Ilham told reporters at the location, Antara, Wednesday, September 18.

As of 12.40 WIB, the athletes had vacated the competition arena. Some athletes took shelter in the stands, some others took shelter in buildings around the arena. Meanwhile, portable cooling fans in athletes' tents are also still scattered on the tent floor.