One man dies as dragon boat capsizes during race in Hubei

One man was killed after a dragon boat capsized in a river during a race in Huangmei county of Hubei province on Saturday, local media reported.

Hubei Daily reported that a dragon boat capsized during a Dragon Boat Festival activity in the Xihe River area of Fenlu town, causing multiple people to fall into the water. The local emergency response team rescued all the individuals. Among them, a 57-year-old man surnamed Yang was rushed to the hospital but passed away despite rescue efforts.

While actively handling the aftermath, local authorities are taking this incident as a lesson to further strengthen the regulation and management of local dragon boat activities to ensure the safety and orderliness of such events, the newspaper said.

According to a video posted on social media, during the race between the red and white teams, one team lost control, causing their dragon boat to capsize and overturn. Several people were seen struggling in the water while attempting to right the boat. Other competing teams and support personnel rushed to the capsized boat to assist in the rescue.

The Dragon Boat Festival commemorates the death of Qu Yuan, a Chu state official and poet who lived during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) before the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). He was exiled after opposing his king's decision to ally with the neighboring state of Qin, and when Chu was finally conquered by Qin, he committed suicide by drowning in the Miluo River on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.

The Chu people, who admired Qu Yuan for his loyalty and integrity, threw rice dumplings into the river to feed the fish so they would not eat the body of their poet hero. People then started dragon boat racing to scare off the fish.