Twenty-one dead as extreme weather hits ultramarathon in China

Hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners at high-altitude, 100km race in Yellow River stone forest in Gansu province

Twenty-one people have died after hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners taking part in a 100km (62-mile) ultramarathon in a mountainous part of northern China.

More than 700 rescuers and army personnel used thermal-imaging drones and radar detectors to try to find runners caught by the storm in the race in Yellow River stone forest near Baiyin in north-western Gansu province, officials said.