Five Runners Collapse From Smog, Heat In Hong Kong 10K - AFP

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Environmentalists called Monday for a rethink on how Hong Kong monitors air pollution after five more athletes collapsed while racing in thick smog and scorching temperatures.

The five, all experienced runners, collapsed during a relatively easy 10-kilometre race on Sunday. They were treated and released from hospital the same day, the Hospital Authority said. The incident follows the death of a runner who collapsed along with 21 other competitors in the Hong Kong marathon in February.

Sunday's race organiser Hong Kong Marathon Pro blamed the collapses on high pollution and searing 33-degree Celsius (91 Fahrenheit) temperatures.

"The air quality was very bad," company chairman Li Ho-tung was quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post. "It was tough to run on such a hot day."

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/2006/060821054838.mkw6fn4t.html