Haze hits Malaysia
Air quality around Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur and on Borneo island was "unhealthy" on Tuesday, with one town reaching "very unhealthy" levels as haze -- mostly from forest fires in Indonesia -- obscured (hidden) skies. Kuala Lumpur residents wore face masks as protection from the choking smog, while visibility was low. In many places, air pollutant index went above 100, which signify "unhealthy" air quality. Readings in Sibu town in Sarawak state on Borneo breached 200 -- designated as "very unhealthy" -- on Monday, but recovered slightly Tuesday.A reading of above 300 signifies "hazardous" air.
Haze is an annual problem during drier summer months when monsoon winds blow smoke from fires mostly on the huge Indonesian island of Sumatra, which lies across the Malacca Strait from Malaysia and Singapore. Read more about it here.
Malaysia's iconic Twin Towers emerge out of thick haze in Kuala Lumpur on July 29, 2014. Air quality around Malaysia's capital and on Borneo island was "unhealthy", with one town reaching "very unhealthy" levels as haze, mostly from forest fires in Indonesia, obscured skies.AFP PHOTO / MANAN VATSYAYANA In Indonesia, the National Disaster Management Agency deployed a chopper (helicopter) to conduct water bombing to West Kalimantan on Borneo to tame 268 so-called hotspots detected in the province as haze also shrouded skies there and on Sumatra island. In Riau on Sumatra, hundreds of military and police personnel as well as firefighters used water cannons to put out fires that stretched over more than 850 hectares of land.
Indonesian army soldiers extinguish fires in a forest area in Sumatra island in 2013AFP PHOTO "Ninety-nine percent of this fire is man-made," said National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho. "Hundreds of fire-fighters and volunteers are trying to put out the fire, but the fire, set alight by individuals and groups, are more intensified still." Indonesian authorities had warned last month that Malaysia and Singapore could be hit by haze again after a huge jump in forest fires in Riau province, which was at the centre of an air pollution crisis last year.
