Nearly 10,000 people ended up in hospitals across the country on Friday night due to respiratory problems brought on by the onset of rains. Health officials said the presence of a stimulant in rainwater “is the cause of the widespread shortness of breath,” Mehr News Agency reported. Officials fear that continuous rainfall will result in more emergency calls from people affected by the respiratory problem. According to the Department of Environment (DoE) the rain was not acidic, but the pathogen is still unknown. Last year, 16,000 people were hospitalized after the first precipitation in Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province. The World Health Organization has ranked Ahvaz as one of the most polluted cities in the world.
