A rescue operation was launched in Gansu province in China after extreme weather hit participants in a cross-country race. Many of the ultra runners died in the storm. Foto: Fan Peishen / Xinhua via AP / NTB
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Participants in a 100-kilometer ultra-race in the mountains northwest of China were hit by extreme weather. A total of 21 died in the storm, according to local authorities.
Updated less than 2 hours ago
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Extreme weather hit the area in the middle of the race, which was held near the city of Baiyin in Gansu province.
– Sudden and extreme weather with hail and ice rain hit parts of the route to the 100-kilometer cross-country race in Gansu province at 13 o’clock on Saturday, the authorities in the city of Baiyin inform.
In addition to the precipitation, the temperature also dropped sharply in the area. The runners were hit by rain, hail and strong winds 20-30 kilometers out into the trail.
—-LOOKING: Rescue workers with equipment on their way up the mountain to look for the missing. Foto: STRINGER / X80002
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Many of the participants were stuck in steep and rugged terrain, and the wind was so strong that the emergency heating blankets, which someone had packed with them, blew away, according to the news website The Paper.
A rescue operation was launched after several runners were reported missing, and the race was canceled, reports the news agency Xinhua.
A total of 151 runners were safely rescued from the mountain. The rescue operation ended when the last missing runners were found dead, writes the party newspaper People’s China Daily.
Gansu is one of China’s poorest regions and borders Mongolia to the north and Xinjiang province to the west.
The mayor of Baiyin City has expressed his deepest sympathy to the families of the participants, and the Communist Party of Gansu has launched an investigation into the incident.
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