Indonesia escalates battle against fires, putrid haze

Indonesia has intensified efforts to fight wildfires with cloud seeding and water bombing as thousands of people countrywide battle to breathe in the smoke and haze, officials said on Aug 28.





More than five million people on Borneo and Sumatra islands were directly exposed to the risks of a putrid haze coming off dozens of fires across the vast archipelago, according to deputy health minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono.



Some 13,500 people were treated for respiratory infections in July and August, Dante said.



Several schools had been closed intermittently and the haze has also made people in Singapore and Malaysia unwell.