Twenty-one people have died after hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners taking part in a 100km (62-mile) ultramarathon in a mountainous part of northern China.
More than 700 rescuers and army personnel used thermal-imaging drones and radar detectors to try to find runners caught by the storm in the race in Yellow River stone forest near Baiyin in north-western Gansu province, officials said.
Twenty-one people died and eight were injured, officials from Baiyin told a news briefing.
The death toll has risen to 21 after extreme weather hit a 100-km cross-country mountain marathon race in northwest China's Gansu https://t.co/fqwxNPXlcG pic.twitter.com/s2wrWpDism
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) May 23, 2021
“At around noon, the high-altitude section of the race between 20-31km 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,” Baiyin city mayor, Zhang Xuchen, said on Sunday.
Rescue teams were dispatched but at around 2pm, weather conditions worsened and the race was immediately called off as local authorities sent more rescuers to help, Zhang added.
“This incident is a public safety incident caused by sudden changes in weather in a local area,” he said, adding that provincial authorities will further investigate its cause.
Temperatures in the mountainous terrain dropped further overnight on Saturday, Xinhua news agency said, making search and rescue “more difficult”.
A “significant” drop in temperatures had been forecast in most parts of Gansu over the weekend but there was anger on Chinese social media that officials had failed to plan for bad weather.
“Why didn’t the government read the weather forecast and do a risk assessment?” one commentator wrote.
“This is totally a man-made calamity. Even if the weather is unexpected, where were the contingency plans?”
At the news briefing on Sunday, Baiyin officials bowed and apologised, saying they were saddened by the tragic deaths of the runners and that they were to be blamed.
21 runners have been confirmed dead after extreme weather hit an #ultra-marathon race in northwest #China's Gansu Province. Authorities say temperatures dropped further after nightfall, complicating the rescue operation. 172 runners in total took part in the 100 kilometer race. pic.twitter.com/wN0RNgFeRz
— CGTN Global Watch (@GlobalWatchCGTN) May 23, 2021
The Gansu provincial government has set up an investigation team to further look into the cause of the deaths, the People’s Daily reported.
Gansu, one of China’s poorest regions, borders Mongolia to the north and Xinjiang to the west.
Yellow River stone forest is famous for its rugged mountain scenery marked by stone stalagmites and pillars, and is used as a location in many Chinese television shows and movies, according to the China Daily.
Its rock formations are believed to be 4 billion years old. Xinhua said a total of 172 people were taking part in the race.