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Smoke from wildfires killed 3,500 people in Indonesia in September: Report

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The toxic smoke pushed the number of Indonesians exposed to unhealthy or hazardous air to a peak of 58 million during September. Fire emissions drove the vast majority of pollution deaths in Kalimantan and Sumatra, while urban and industrial sources contributed an additional 1,750 fatalities nationwide. In response to mounting criticism, Indonesian authorities defended their actions by highlighting emergency medical mobilizations and large-scale firefighting operations. Officials noted that 5.3 million masks have been distributed alongside cloud-seeding missions to mitigate the public health emergency.

Key points

  • The persistent fires were intensified by severe drought conditions linked directly to an…: The persistent fires were intensified by severe drought conditions linked directly to an El Niño weather pattern.
  • Transboundary haze from the Indonesian fires escalated air pollution levels in Malaysia,…: Transboundary haze from the Indonesian fires escalated air pollution levels in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and East Timor.
  • The government mobilized over 72,000 personnel and deployed more than 2,100 doctors and h…: The government mobilized over 72,000 personnel and deployed more than 2,100 doctors and healthcare workers to severely impacted zones.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Persistent wildfires sparked by drought have enveloped the region in smog.

Toxic smoke from wildfires killed 3,560 people in Indonesia last month, according to a new report.

The study, released by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) on Thursday, found that air pollution-related deaths in Indonesia surged by 42 percent in September, rising from an estimated 3,740 people killed in August to 5,310.

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Toxic smoke from forest and land fires caused 3,560 deaths last month, the report said. “Chronic, non-fire emissions from urban and industrial air pollution sources” caused another 1,750 deaths, the Helsinki-based think tank found.

Toxic fire smoke accounted for 94-99 percent of air pollution-related deaths in Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, and more than 80 percent on Sumatra, the regions worst affected by the…

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