The Hong Kong founder of an adventure racing company could face criminal charges in Australia after two runners almost died from third-degree burns suffered in an outback marathon she organised last year.
Mary Gadams, chief executive of ultramarathon organiser RacingThePlanet, answered questions at a parliamentary inquiry in Western Australia this month about events leading up to the September 2 tragedy.
The parliamentary inquiry is not due to report its findings until next month, but state leader Colin Barnett has said he would support criminal charges against Gadams' company if the inquiry recommended it.
Gadams was adamant that a criminal prosecution would not be called for.
'RacingThePlanet does not consider that it is in any way liable for the injuries sustained to five competitors in the Kimberley Ultramarathon,' she told the Sunday Morning Post last week.
The 100-kilometre, three-day marathon was the second that the Sheung Wan-based company had organised in Western Australia. The route was similar to the first race, held in 2010.
Gadams, an American who has lived in Hong Kong for 10 years, maintained that the bushfire that trapped five runners as they made their way through a narrow gorge at El Questro station near Kununurra was 'unexpected and came from a direction from which fire had not been anticipated'.