6000 people cram into one pool in China to beat the heat

ROOM for one more? Six thousand people somehow crammed into this indoor pool in Suining, south-west China, last week, seeking refuge from temperatures in excess of 40 °C. The chaotic, gaudy scene unfolded at a resort called the Dead Sea. Here the water’s natural concentration of salts – at around 22 per cent – gives swimmers a buoyancy similar to what people experience at the real Dead Sea in the Middle East. The resort also has a 10,000-square-metre artificial surfing pool.

The searing conditions were the result of high-pressure systems trapping hot air over the country. Last week, China issued an orange alert, its second-highest temperature warning, for central and southern areas.

It isn’t just China that is sweltering. Last month, Earth’s average surface temperature was at its highest since records began.

This article appeared in print under the headline “An inflatable rainbow”