'Thunderstorm asthma' death toll reaches 6MELBOURNE, Australia -- Six people have died and five remained on life support after a rare condition known as thunderstorm asthma struck Australia's second-largest city, officials said Sunday. The sixth victim died in a hospital on Saturday night from medical complications stemming from a wild thunderstorm that struck Melbourne on Monday night, a Health Department statement said. Five patients remained in intensive care units and three of those were in critical condition, the statement said. Around a third of patients who suffered asthma attacks on Monday reported never having asthma before. The world's first recorded thunderstorm asthma event occurred in Melbourne in 1987, when hospitals reported a five-fold increase in asthma cases.

Source: The China Post November 27, 2016 16:34 UTC