China Ultra-Marathon: Severe Weather Kills 21 Runners

Twenty-one runners have died after High winds and freezing rain hit participants in the 100km ultramarathon in the Yellow River Stone Forest, a tourist site in Gansu province, on Saturday.

The race was halted when some of the 172 runners went missing, and a rescue operation was launched and found many of the stranded runners reportedly suffered from hypothermia.

Officials said 151 runners were now confirmed safe, and that eight of them were injured.

Surviving participants said the forecast had shown some wind and rain was anticipated, but nothing as extreme as what they experienced.

About three hours after the start, a mountainous section of the race was hit by hail, heavy rain and gales, which caused temperatures to plummet, according to officials from the nearby Baiyin city.

One runner, Mao Shuzhi, told Newsmen she was about 24km into the race at the time and had not yet reached the mountains but decided to turn around when the weather changed and the rain was getting heavier and heavier.

She decided to head back to her hotel, having had previous bad experiences with hypothermia, but others carried on or were already in worst-hit areas.

The operation continued through the night into Sunday morning, during which time a further drop in temperature made the search even more difficult. The deaths have sparked public outrage on Chinese social media, with anger mainly directed at the Baiyin government and unhappiness over the lack of contingency planning.