Chinese official media reported on Sunday that 21 competitors died in a bitter cold that swept a jogging race in northwestern Gansu province on Saturday.
The 100-kilometer race kicked off Saturday morning from a tourist site on the Yellow River, the country's second-longest river.
Officials in "Baiyin" City, Gansu Province, said that a wave of cold, snowy rain and gusty winds struck a mountainous section of the race track during which temperatures fell sharply, and 172 contestants participated in the race.
The officials said that a "sudden storm" was punctuated by hail, icy rain and strong winds that struck part of the course of this race on Saturday, resulting in the death of 20 people, while one of the contestants is still missing.
A previous toll reported by the official New China News Agency, "Xinhua", reported 16 deaths and 5 missing due to "bad weather hitting the region during the race."
The agency stated that the race, which was held in the "Yellow River Stone Forest" near the city of Baiyin, was stopped after the storm hit.
For its part, the government newspaper Al-Shaab stated, in a tweet on Twitter, that 151 runners had been "safely evacuated" under "heavy rain," noting that more than 700 rescuers participated in the search for the missing.
Noting that the number of participants in the race reached 172 contestants, she explained that 5 of the survivors "were lightly injured and treated in the hospital."
Gansu, one of the poorest regions of China, borders Mongolia to the north and Xinjiang to the west.
The Yellow River Stone Forest is famous for its rugged mountainous terrain and stunning scenery, as it features stalagmites and stone stalagmites and is a favorite location for filming many Chinese TV programs and movies, according to the China Daily.
According to the newspaper, scientists believe that the rock formations in this region date back 4 billion years.