Twenty-one people were killed after hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners taking part in a 100km cross-country mountain race in China, state media said yesterday.
The extreme weather struck a high-altitude section of the race held in the scenic Yellow River Stone Forest near Baiyin in northwestern Gansu Province on Saturday afternoon.
Among the dead were elite Chinese long-distance runners, local media reported.
Photo: Reuters
Xinhua news agency confirmed that the death toll had risen to 21, citing the local rescue command headquarters. State broadcaster China Central Television also reported that the final missing competitor had been found dead.
Baiyin Mayor Zhang Xuchen said that at about midday on Saturday a section of the rugged ultramarathon course — between kilometers 20 and 31 — was “suddenly affected by disastrous weather.”
“In a short period of time, hailstones and ice rain suddenly fell in the local area, and there were strong winds. The temperature sharply dropped,” Zhang said.
Shortly after receiving messages seeking help from some participants, marathon organizers dispatched a rescue team that managed to save 18 of the 172 participants.
At about 2pm, weather conditions worsened and the race was immediately called off as local authorities sent more rescuers to help, Zhang said.
The victims included top domestic marathon runners Liang Jing and Huang Guanjun, local media reported, citing a friend of Huang’s and Wei Pulong, Liang’s coach. Liang had won multiple Chinese ultramarathons in the past few years.
Huang, who was deaf-mute, won the men’s hearing-impaired marathon at the 2019 National Paralympic Games in Tianjin. Marathon organizers confirmed his death to a friend, who was cited in local media.
“As the event’s organizer, we feel a deep sense of guilt and self-blame, express our deep mourning for the victims and deep condolences to their families and the injured runners,” Zhang said, as he and other local officials bowed.
The race, backed by the Baiyin City Government and the Chinese Athletic Association, has been held for four successive years.
Xinhua reported that some of the runners had hypothermia, and Zhang said earlier that eight people were being treated for minor injuries in hospital and were in a stable condition.
Video footage broadcast on state media showed emergency rescue personnel in combat fatigues carrying flashlights as they climbed through the rocky terrain at night. Some marathon participants, wrapped in heavy-duty blankets, were filmed being put on to a stretcher by rescuers.
Photographs published by Chinese media also showed a group of runners huddled together on the mountainside, some wrapped in insulation blankets.
“My whole body was soaked through, including my shoes and socks. I couldn’t stand up straight because of the wind, I was very worried I’d be blown over. The cold became more and more unbearable,” one survivor was quoted as saying in local media.
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