China ultramarathon tragedy: Official dies during probe into deaths of 21 competitors

A Chinese county official appears to have taken his own life during a probe into the deaths of 21 runners last month when a storm hit the mountain on which they were competing in an ultramarathon.

State news agency CCTV said police were notified on Wednesday that Jingtai County Communist Party Secretary Li Zuobi had died. Homicide had been ruled out, it said.

On Friday, the Gansu provincial government in western China handed down punishments to 27 officials, posthumously exempting Li but sacking his deputy, Zhang Wenling, CCTV reported.

Two other lower-ranking officials were detained pending a further investigation, while the others were given administrative punishments, demotions, warnings and demerits.

Shepherd Zhu Keming in a cave where he saved the lives of six runners. Photo / Getty Images

A report issued by the province found a lack of adequate planning for the event and a failure to respond effectively once weather conditions deteriorated drastically during the May 22 race, it said.

The organising committee failed to implement its protocols for managing the race and was guilty of being "overly formalistic and bureaucratic", the report said.

Competitors were running 100 kilometres, partly along an extremely narrow mountain path, at altitudes up to 2000-3000 metres in the Yellow River Stone Forest tourist site in Gansu's Baiyin city.

Reports said about US$150,000 (NZ$210,462) in compensation has been offered for each victim, but some family members had rejected the amount, saying that many who died were breadwinners and at the top of their sport.

Rescuers search for survivors in northwest China's Gansu Province on May 23. Photo / AP

Among those who died was well-known runner Liang Jing, who had won a 100km race in the Gobi Desert.

While the race has been held several times before, runners were apparently caught off guard by the cold weather and difficult conditions on steep unpaved paths.

Amid freezing rain and gale-force winds, about 50 of the more than 170 competitors were given shelter in traditional cave dwellings maintained by shepherds. An all-night rescue mission brought most of them to safety, although several had to be hospitalised.