Tuesday, January 28, 2025, 11:58AM |  35°
MENU
SECTIONS
OTHER
CLASSIFIEDS
CONTACT US / FAQ
Advertisement
In this photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, rescuers walk into the accident site to search for survivors in Jingtai County of Baiyin City, northwest China's Gansu Province, Sunday, May 23, 2021.
1
MORE

21 die in extreme weather in China ultramarathon

Fan Peishen/Xinhua via AP

21 die in extreme weather in China ultramarathon

BEIJING (AP) — Twenty-one people running a mountain ultramarathon have died in northwestern China after hail, freezing rain and gale-force winds hit the high-altitude race, state media reported Sunday.

After an all-night rescue operation in freezing temperatures involving more than 700 personnel, rescuers were able to confirm 151 people were safe, out of a total of 172 participants. Twenty-one had died, according to the official Xinhua News Agency, which said the runners suffered from physical discomfort and the sudden drop in temperature.

The runners were racing on an extremely narrow mountain path at an altitude reaching 6,500 to 9,800 feet. The 60-mile race was held Saturday in the Yellow River Stone Forest tourist site in Baiyin city in Gansu province.

Advertisement

Participants were not rookies. One of the deceased was well-known runner Liang Jing, who had won a 62-mile race in Ningbo, reported the Paper, a state-backed newspaper based in Shanghai.

A woman who worked for the race organizer, Gansu Shengjing Sports Culture Development Co., said there were no predictions of extreme weather for the day of the race, according to Beijing News, a paper owned by the Beijing city government.

However, Baiyin city’s local branch of the National Early Warning Information Center had warned for the past three days of hail and strong winds.

The race also followed a relatively established course, having been held four times, according to an account posted online by a participant in the race who quit and managed to make his way to safety.

Advertisement

But the weather caught them off guard, and on the morning of the race Saturday, he already sensed things were not normal. The runners were not dressed for winter-like conditions, many wearing short-sleeved tops.

“I ran 2 kilometers before the starting gun fired to warm up, ... but the troublesome thing was after running these 2 kilometers, my body still had not heated up,” the competitor said in a first-person account that has been viewed more than 100,000 times on his WeChat account, “Wandering about the South.”

He later told the Paper the forecast the day prior to the race did not predict the extreme weather they encountered.

The most difficult section, from mile 15 to mile 22, climbed 3,280 feet. There, he said the path was just a mix of stones and sand, and his fingers grew numb from the cold.

When he finally decided to turn back, he already felt dazed. He said he was able to make it to safety and met a rescue crew. He did not respond to a request for comment left on his social media account.

Some runners farther along the course had fallen off the trail into deep mountain crevices, according to a reporter for state broadcaster CCTV. It was not clear how many of them survived.

Video footage showed rescuers in winter jackets in the pitch-dark night searching with flashlights along steep hills and narrow paths. Search operations ended by noon Sunday, rescuers told Xinhua.

Online, some wondered what, if any, preparations organizers had made in the event of an emergency. The race organizer did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment Sunday.

Baiyin city Mayor Zhang Xuchen held a news conference later Sunday and profoundly apologized as the organizer of the event. The government promised a full investigation.

“We express deep condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and the injured,” the mayor said.

Associated Press writer Huizhong Wu in Taipei, Taiwan and news researcher Henry Hou in Beijing contributed to this report.

First Published: May 23, 2021, 11:33 a.m.

RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
The neighborhood of Beechview is photographed on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. Tensions are high in that community and others in Western Pennsylvania as President Donald Trump's administration ramps up Immigration & Customs Enforcement roundups of illegal immigrants.
1
news
Fear and anxiety ripple through Western Pa. communities amid immigration crackdown
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey spoke Monday to members of the Pennsylvania Press Club in Harrisburg.
2
news
Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey says his administration will not work with ICE
Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II walks around the field before an NFL football game between the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, in Denver.
3
sports
Art Rooney II gives Mike Tomlin vote of confidence, admits Steelers unlikely to re-sign both QBs
Pittsburgh helmets on the sidelines during an NCAA college football game against North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022.
4
sports
ACC reveals full 2025 conference schedule for Pitt football
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce celebrate victory against the Buffalo Bills after the AFC Championship NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo.(AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)
5
sports
Jason Mackey: Chiefs fatigue or not, a riveting Sunday reminded us the NFL's product is king
In this photo provided by China's Xinhua News Agency, rescuers walk into the accident site to search for survivors in Jingtai County of Baiyin City, northwest China's Gansu Province, Sunday, May 23, 2021.  (Fan Peishen/Xinhua via AP)
Fan Peishen/Xinhua via AP
Advertisement
LATEST sports
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story