Marathon duo collapse

2006-02-13 13:56

Hong Kong - Two men were critically ill in hospital Monday after collapsing while taking part in the Hong Kong Marathon when the city was shrouded in smog.

Twenty people, including the critically ill men, aged 32 and 53, collapsed on Sunday as the city was affected by some of its worst air pollution this year.

The Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association said on Monday that it will carry out a review with the government to see if guidelines on air pollution need to be introduced.

However, chairperson William Ko said the pollution readings had not been high enough to cause any concern when about 40 000 runners set out on the marathon and 10km race.

Air pollution

He told the government-run radio station RTHK that air pollution readings were around 100 on a scale of one to 200 when the runners set out - high but not severe enough to affect able-bodied people.

However, air pollution readings in some parts of the course reached as high as 149 on Sunday morning as the marathon runners laboured their way across the city of 6.8 million.

Hong Kong has been struggling to contain a worsening air pollution problem in recent years as a combination of petrol fumes and factory emissions from neighbouring southern China poison the air.

Eighty per cent of Hong Kong's pollution is believed to come from China's Guangdong province, known as the world's workshop, but cross-border attempts to reduce pollution have met with only limited success.

- SAPA