Organizers, officials jailed for deadly ultramarathon tragedy
Rescue workers carry a stretcher as they work at the site where extreme cold weather killed participants of an 100-km ultramarathon race in Baiyin, Gansu province, China May 22, 2021.
Five organizers and two responsible officials of a 2021 ultramarathon were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to five and a half years for their role in a deadly accident that killed 21 runners.
The Yellow River Stone Forest 100km Trail Race was hit by sudden severe weather on May 22, 2021. Twenty-one people died from hypothermia after being drenched by freezing rain and buffeted by gale-force winds on a mountain trail.
Four employees of the event's organizers Zhang Xiaoyan, Wu Shiyuan, Zhang Zhengji, and Zheng Shirong, and Wang Yaoxiang, an employee of a technology company, were found guilty of "major safety incident during a large-scale public event," the People's Court of Baiyin District ruled yesterday.
The court determined that the organizers had failed to take adequate precautions against potential weather risks, leading to the tragedy. The race continued despite forecasts for a significant temperature drop, and the organizers lacked proper emergency protocols for responding to the sudden storm.
In a separate trial, two former officials of Jingtai Yellow River Stone Forest Scenic Area Management Committee, where the race was held, were also convicted of negligence and bribery related to the event.
The former director of the comittee Ding Keya received a four-year and ten-month sentence, and the former deputy director Luo Wentao got three and a half years.
The tragedy shocked China's running community and prompted public outrage calling for improved safety measures in the rapidly growing endurance sports industry.
