NEW DELHI: Tens of thousands of runners braved smoggy conditions for the Delhi half marathon on Sunday despite dire health warnings from doctors who wanted the race postponed in the heavily-polluted capital. Around 35,000 people registered for the race in the Indian city after more than a week of hazardous pollution levels that forced schools shut for several days. The US embassy website Sunday showed levels of the smallest and most harmful airborne pollutants reached 189 – nearly eight times the World Health Organization’s safe maximum. Most participants – the large majority of whom were local, amateur runners – seemed unfazed and ran without masks, ignoring the warnings. A 2014 World Health Organization survey found Delhi was the world’s most polluted capital, with air quality even worse than Beijing.

Source: New Strait Times November 19, 2017 06:00 UTC