According to China’s National Radio, Zhou Kiming is taking care of his sheep near the harsh weather in Huangshilin’s high mountain in Gansu Province. He took refuge in a cave where he kept firewood and clothes on the runway.
“The weather on that day was really unfamiliar. It was foggy, rainy, stormy and sometimes advisory. This kind of weather is really rare, “Zhu told China National Radio.
When the temperature dropped, participants began to report hypothermia, but others were lost. The organizers of the marathon canceled the competition and launched a search campaign for 1,200 people to explore the difficult terrain, a process that continued after dark.
Chu said he heard noise outside the cave around noon. 13 local time. Then he saw a runner coming out of the fog.
I asked him, “How are you? Can you still run? “His speed was too slow and he rubbed his legs with his hands, and he said he couldn’t run anymore due to muscle contractions,” Chu told the announcer. “So I said, Come warm up in the cave.”
Four more runners found refuge in the cave. Chu said he also found a runner lying on the road and took him to his back for a beer.
He said people from Chu village joined in the effort to help the runners, brought clothes and blankets to the race track and embarked on a search and rescue mission. Other residents brought hot water and food to the rescued runners.
“At one point I didn’t feel my fingers (because it was so cold). At the same time, I felt that my tongue was frozen too, ”the race participant told local Red Star News.
After his story became available on Chinese social media, Zhu posted a record stating that what he had done was a “very normal, normal thing” and that he regretted that he could no longer save the people on the road.
The deadly marathon provoked public outrage and a test of the organizing committee’s preparations. By Sunday morning, 151 of the 172 race participants had been confirmed safe, eight of whom were hospitalized. And found 21 dead, reports the government’s daily newspaper Al-Shaab.
According to China Central Television, the Gansu provincial government on Monday set up a joint committee of inquiry with meteorologists and marathon experts to investigate the accident.
