Hong Kong issues health warning due to high-level air pollution

03.16.2006, 11:42 PM

HONG KONG (AFX) - Hong Kong issued a health
warning as air pollution reached high levels and cloaked the territory
in dense smog.





A spokeswoman for the Environmental
Protection Department said calm air had trapped pollutants from both
Hong Kong and China's heavily industrialized neighboring Pearl River
Delta.





The pollution index in some areas reached as
high as 133 on a 1-200 scale, officials said, and the government
advised people with heart or respiratory illnesses to avoid outdoor
activities.





Friends of the Earth Hong Kong estimates that
some 80 pct of the pollution drifts in from the Pearl River Delta,
China's economic powerhouse.


Technorati Tags: hongkong, air, pollution