A runner surnamed Wang has died in Sunday's Beijing International Marathon, organizers said.

The runner, whose gender was unknown now, fell into coma after finishing about 27 kilometers in the annual event, and was immediately taken by an ambulance to the Third Hospital attached to the Beijing University, the organizing committee said in a statement.

Despite immediate treatment, doctors still failed to save the runner's life, added the statement.

Two runners, an elder and an undergraduate, died in last year's Beijing International Marathon.

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2005)