Twenty-one people were killed when extremely cold weather struck during an ultra-marathon on Saturday in the rugged Gansu province in northwestern China, state media reported on Sunday.
Some 172 people took part in the race and by yesterday 151 participants had been confirmed safe, while the last missing runner was found dead at 9:30am on Sunday.
The report sparked public outrage over the lack of contingency planning. Anger was mainly directed at the Baiyin county government.
“Why didn’t the government read the weather forecast and do a risk assessment?” one commentator wrote on social media. Another post commented: “This is totally a man-made calamity. Even if the weather is unexpected, where were the contingency plans?”
The 100-km race began from a tourist site on the Yellow River. The route ran through deep canyons and undulating hills on an arid plateau at an elevation of more than 1,000 metres.
The race started with runners wearing t-shirts and shorts under overcast skies, according to photographs posted on the social media page of the Yellow River Stone Forest scenic area in Jingtai county.
By noon a mountainous section of the race was hit by hail, freezing rain and gales that caused temperatures to plummet.
Over 1,200 rescuers were dispatched, assisted by thermal-imaging drones, radar detectors and demolition equipment.
A landslide following the severe weather also hampered the rescue effort.
The temperature in Jingtai county fell to 6°C on Saturday, excluding wind chill.
Jingtai was expecting moderate to strong winds from Friday night through Saturday according to the China Meteorological Administration in Beijing. The wind chill factor would likely have dropped the temperature below freezing.
The Gansu provincial government has set up an investigation team to further look into the cause of the deaths.
[Photo:STR / AFP]