A total of 21 people were confirmed dead today due to extreme weather during a 100 km cross-country mountain race held in Northwest China's Gansu Province. Of all 172 race participants, 151 have been confirmed safe with eight sent to the hospital but in stable condition as reported by state media. A sudden change in weather patterns resulted in hailstorms, freezing rain and gale winds during the race, which started on Saturday afternoon in the Yellow River Stone Forest tourist site in Jingtai county of northwest China's Gansu Province, state broadcaster reported on Sunday. <br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">The extremely cold weather caused hypothermia among marathoners, resulting in some going missing, and the race was suspended. A rescue command center has been set up by local authorities. Rescue work was challenging due to complicated terrain, a further decrease in temperature at night and poor communications signals in the mountains. State TV quoted rescuers as saying that the low temperature was the biggest threat faced by participants as they wore thin clothes, and the temperature in the mountain is close to 0 C. The local government has formed a team for an in-depth investigation on the cause of the incident, as reported.</span><br />