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The organizers of an ultramarathon in China have been sentenced to prison terms of up to 5.5 years after 21 people died during their event. This was reported by the local state media.
A 100 kilometer race was held in northwest China in May 2021. But the event ended dramatically. The weather conditions were terrible. Participants had to brave heavy rain, strong wind gusts and hail storms in the mountainous area. The severe weather caused a total of 21 deaths.
The event raised many questions. Why had the organization ignored such bad weather forecasts? And why wasn’t the event canceled sooner?
Five people were convicted on Friday for their participation in the organization of the event. They received prison sentences of three to five and a half years. This was reported by the state news agency Xinhua.
Another person was given a prison sentence of four years and ten months for “dereliction of duty and bribery”, and another received up to three and a half years for “dereliction of duty”.
After the deadly event, Beijing’s Sports Ministry announced it would suspend events without national safety standards, including mountain trail running, wingsuit flying and ultrarunning.