Cold weather in China kills cross-country runners
On Saturday, high winds and freezing rain hit participants in the 100km (60-mile) race in the Yellow River Stone Forest, a tourist site in Gansu province, state-run media reported. The race was halted when some of the 172 runners went missing. Search-and-rescue teams found the bodies on Sunday. Temperatures plummeted again in the mountainous area overnight, making the search more difficult, according to Xinhua. More than 1,200 rescuers had been deployed.
Officials said 151 runners are confirmed to be safe and that eight of them were injured. Zhang Xuchen, mayor of Baiyin city, said a special team was set up to investigate the incident. Yellow River Stone Forest is a rugged, 50 sq km (20 sq mile) area featuring spectacular stone pillars. Jingtai county saw a low of 6 deg C on Saturday, excluding wind chill. Baiyin, including Jingtai, was expected to see moderate to strong winds from Friday night through Saturday, according to the China Meteorological Administration in Beijing in a report late on Friday.
A separate report on the website of provincial weather services on Thursday also predicted a “significant” drop in temperature in most parts of Gansu, including Baiyin, through Sunday. The deaths sparked public outrage on Chinese social media, with anger mainly directed at the Baiyin government and unhappiness over the lack of contingency planning.“Why didn’t the government read the weather forecast and do a risk assessment?” one commentator wrote.
“This is totally an artificial calamity. Even if the weather is unexpected, where were the contingency plans?”At the news briefing on Sunday, Baiyin officials bowed and apologised, saying the tragic deaths of the runners saddened them and that they were to be blamed. The Gansu provincial government has set up an investigation team to examine the cause of the deaths. Further, the People’s Daily reported.
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