Die of vs. Die from

The two prepositions can be used with die but one may be preferred to the others in some occasions or be of more or less frequency than the others.

Die of and die from can be used interchangeably,both are fine but die of seems to be a more common and usual expression, and many grammarians prefer it to die from.

M-W's Dictionary of English Usage comments:

"From as far back as 1881, there have been varying pronouncements as to which prepositions may be used with which objects after the verb die. Sometimes disapproval is expressed of one preposition or another; Vizetelly 1906 and Copperud 1964, 1970., 1980 do not like from, and Ayres 1881 and Jensen 1935 do not like with. Since as many specifically approve these two prepositions as object to them, there cannot be much of a question of propriety here. But there is still the question of idiom."

Here are a selection of the results of searching in the "Just the word" showing the frequency of die of and die from:

Die of : cancer(108),illness(11),hunger(21),injury(17),overdose(9),attack(79),disease(43)...

Die from : cancer(36),illness(11),hunger(6),injury(36),overdose(6),attack(19),disease(33)...

Also, there are other prepositions which cab be used with die :

Die in: accident, battle, blast, fall, smash, war, bombing, incident, attack(24), age, fire, violence
operation, exile, sleep, morning

Die by lethal injection,the sword, chemicals, attack, suicide, overdose, bullet, sea, river,water, enemy action,drowning,neglect,snake, the hand (of his fiend, for example), law, hanging,bomb...

- Some African tribes leave their elderly to die by the rivers and waterholes so that the wild animals will eat them.
- She was condemned to die by stoning.

Notice that in many situations, die in/by can be replaced by die of/from,and sometimes with a little change: bullet = bullet wound, snake = snake biting,

Die with swine flu

Die for lack of care

The related subjects

Ways of saying how many people were killed

Ways of saying how many people were killed

There are various ways you can say about the number of people killed in a war,attack,riot,... .The following are some sentences which are useful particularly for writers .
1- Terror attacks took 300 lives .

2- Terror attacks killed 300 people .

3- Terror attacks left 300 people dead .

4- Terror attacks took the death toll to 300.

5- Terror attacks claimed 300 people's lives .

6- Terror attacks pushed the death toll to 300 .

7- 300 people died as a result of terror attacks .

8- Terror attacks caused the deaths of 300 people .

9- Terror attacks caused the killings of 300 people .

10 - Terror attacks led to 300 people's lives being lost .

11- Terror attacks resulted in the loss of 300 people's lives .

12- Terror attacks took the number of people killed to 300 .

13- Terror attacks brought the total of the people killed to 300

14- 300 people died as a result of terror attacks .

15- 300 people were dead in terror attacks .

16- 300 people died in terror attacks .