Hong Kong blighted by smog 11 days before Olympics

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

HONG KONG (AFP) — Dozens of Olympic equestrian horses had to exercise in a blanket of choking smog in Hong Kong on Monday, as a dense white haze blurred the skyline of the southern Chinese city.

The Hong Kong Observatory said the haze had cut visibility to about three kilometres at midday.

The city's air pollution level was classified as high, although it had not yet crossed the critical 100 mark, the point at which those with respiratory or heart problems are urged to stay at home.

But a spokesman for the Equestrian Company, which is responsible for hosting the Olympic Equestrian events in Hong Kong, said they were confident the pollution would not pose a risk to horses.

"We have kept our horses in a high-ceilinged, six-star stable with a...