A 30-year-old man participating in the half marathon of Brooklyn died this Saturday after collapsing near the finish line and five other people were hospitalized, according to the New York Fire Department. The organizers of the race warned the participants about possible discomfort due to the heat wave that the city is experiencing – it is expected that the maximum in New York be 32.2 degrees with an average humidity of 50%-.
However, a spokesman said it was unclear whether rising temperatures had played a role in the runner’s death or the injuries of others, according to the New York Times. The runner fainted shortly before 9:00 a.m. local time (1:00 p.m. GMT) near the finish line of the race and was taken to Coney Island Hospital (Brooklyn), where he was pronounced dead, a New York Police Department spokeswoman said.
At the start of the race, 7:00 a.m. local time (11:00 GMT), the thermometer showed 15.5 degrees and four hours later, when the Fire Department reported the death, it rose to 21.1 degrees. In 2014, a 31-year-old runner died near the finish line of another New York race after collapsing.
