172 runners set off on the 100-kilometer route on Saturday at 9:00 (3:00 CEST). The photos showed competitors dressed in shorts and T-shirts under a cloudy sky. Around noon, however, the weather began to deteriorate rapidly, as soon as the competitors reached the mountainous part of the route. Temperatures dropped to six degrees Celsius in the foothills, but at higher altitudes it was even colder and a strong wind blew.
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The plant, which was later stopped, took place in a so-called stone forest by the Yellow River near the city of Paiyin in Kansu Province.
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NO COMMENT: 21 people did not survive the 100-kilometer run in the Chinese mountains.
Video: Reuters
Runners, trapped by the weather in the mountains, desperately called for help from their mobile phones. The organizers also received reports that many competitors are so hypothermic that they can no longer move, some were unconscious.
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The organizers eventually interrupted the race and hundreds of rescuers set out on the route. They also searched for the racers with the help of drones with thermal cameras and radar detectors, but their work was hampered by weather and extremely difficult terrain at altitudes of up to 2,000 meters. Only the first 24 kilometers of the route were passable by car.
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Six runners were rescued by a herdsman
At the same time, the six runners, who were taken care of by the sheep herder Chu Qinging, were extremely lucky. According to the Guardian, when the weather in the mountains began to deteriorate, Chu took refuge in one of the caves there, which he had previously equipped with supplies of food and clothing in case of emergency.
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Along the way, however, he came across one of the runners, who he said was standing still and apparently suffering from cramps. He helped him get into the cave, massaged his frozen arms and legs, lit a fire, and dried his soaked clothes.
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Subsequently, four other runners found their way to the cave, informing the herders that there were still several abandoned racers in the mountains, some of whom were unconscious.
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Chu went out again, where in difficult conditions he managed to find another runner lying on the ground. He took him to a cave, where he then wrapped him in several blankets.
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“I would like to say that I am grateful to the man who saved me. Without him, I would have stayed there, “wrote racer Chang Xiaotchao on the Weibo social network, where the herdsman reaps admiration and words of appreciation for rescuing a total of three women and three men.
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Shepherd Zhu Qinging in front of a cave where he took care of six runners.
Photo: Profimedia.cz
But according to him, it was nothing special. “I am an ordinary person who has done a very ordinary thing,” he told the Chinese media, and also regretted that he could not help more competitors.
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“There were people who could no longer be saved. The two men showed no signs of life and there was nothing more I could do for them. I’m sorry, “Chu said.
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