Hong Kong stinks up neighbor

The pong that pummeled Shenzhen, Guangdong province on Friday and Saturday arose from a fire in neighboring Hong Kong, a Shenzhen official told the Global Times on Sunday.

About half of the city stank like "burning plastic bags" from Friday night to Saturday morning, according to residents who complained of sore throats and headaches to the Shenzhen paper the Daily Sunshine.

Readings of airborne particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter - PM2.5 -- in Futian, Luohu, Nanshan districts hit "abnormal" upper limits, a director surnamed Bai from Shenzhen's Habitat Environment Committee told the Global Times on Sunday. The highest was 169 in Lizhi Park.

The stench started subsiding 2 am on Saturday and by daylight the PM2.5 gauge was down to 62, Bai said. The committee contacted Hong Kong and learned there had been a fire at an electronic parts recycling plant in Ta Kwu Ling, 1.5 kilometers away. The wind blew toward Shenzhen on Friday night.

Hong Kong fire brigades received an alert 8:25 pm Friday and put out the fire by 10:21 pm, the Guangzhou-based Nandu Daily reported.

Shenzhen residents have increasingly been suffering respiratory problems, Shenzhen TV reported on November 2.