21 DIE IN EXTREME WEATHER IN CHINA ULTRAMARATHON
Twentyone people running a mountain ultramarathon have died in northwestern China after hail, freezing rain and galeforce winds hit the highaltitude race, state media reported on May 23. After an allnight rescue operation in freezing temperatures involving more than 700 personnel, rescuers were able to confirm that 151 people were safe, out of a total of 172 participants. Twentyone 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 2,0003,000m. The 100km race was held the day before in the Yellow River Stone Forest tourist site in Baiyin city in Gansu province. Participants were not rookies. One of the deceased was a wellknown runner Liang Jing, who had won a 100km race in Ningbo, reported the Paper, a statebacked newspaper based in Shanghai. A woman who worked for the race organiser, 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. But the weather caught them o guard, and on the morning of the race, he already sensed things were not normal. The runners were not dressed for winterlike conditions, many wearing shortsleeved tops.