Rescue team members searching for missing marathon runners in the Yellow River Stone Forest tourist site in Jingtai county, Baiyin, Northwest China's Gansu Province. Photo: Xinhua

Poor management and unprofessional operation and execution was also blamed for the ultramarathon tragedy in Baiyin, Northwest China's Gansu Province that killed 21 amid extreme weather, an investigation report released by the provincial government showed, calling the tragedy a public safety incident causing significant casualties.

The 18,000 word-long report released late Friday by the Gansu provincial government revealed how the race held on May 22 ended up in a tragedy, with weather conditions so severe that even the country's best long-distance runners could not overcome them, including strong winds and freezing rain. 

The report said extreme weather was the direct cause for the tragedy as most runners did not bring equipment that could maintain adequate warmth with them and even suffered in temperatures below -5 C, leading some to death due to a significant drop in temperature.

The report also pointed out that multiple flaws in the hosting of the race and poor operations added to the cause of  the tragedy, as the event's organizers did not adopt adequate measures after receiving forecasting reports and their unprofessional handling of the situation affected their response to the emergency. 

The sports management departments also failed to implement sufficient safety supervision, according to the report. 

The emergency response plan by the organizations hosting the race was not activated in the first place, causing them to be late in arranging emergency services  to rescue runners in the extreme weather. 

The tragedy was also related to the poor communication facilities at the race venue and the lack of medical personnel. 

In total, 27 government officials and entities involved in the race were held responsible for the tragedy, including Party chief and major of Baiyin city, and five people from the company that organized the Yellow River Stone Forest race, who were arrested and will face criminal charges.

Global Times