Indonesia wildfire haze deaths are estimated at 3,560 for September, according to a new report from CREA, a Helsinki-based think tank. The report attributes the deaths to toxic smoke from forest and land fires, and the government is facing increasing criticism over its response, according to Al Jazeera.
According to Al Jazeera, which reported the findings on Thursday, air pollution-related deaths in Indonesia rose 42 percent in September. The estimate climbed from 3,740 in August to 5,310. The report also said chronic non-fire emissions from urban and industrial sources caused another 1,750 deaths.
The number of people exposed to unhealthy to hazardous air quality reached a record 58 million in September, Al Jazeera reported.
The government said it deployed more than 72,000 people for cloud-seeding and firefighting, according to Al Jazeera. It said it activated more than 2,100 doctors and health workers and distributed 5.3 million masks.
The fires were sparked by the El Nino weather pattern and severe drought, according to the reporting. They have caused deforestation and spread smog across the archipelago. Toxic fire smoke accounted for 94 to 99 percent of air pollution-related deaths in Kalimantan and more than 80 percent on Sumatra, the worst-affected regions.
The pollution has also reached neighbouring countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and East Timor.
The key figures come from press coverage of the CREA report, not the report itself, which was not available for review. The 3,560 death figure is a modelled estimate, and the sources did not include independent confirmation. No direct government response to the death estimates was reported. The main findings rest on Al Jazeera, and the sources do not give a publication date for the report beyond Thursday.
Japan Times, available only as a headline and short excerpt, reports that rain is set to ease the haze in Singapore and Malaysia. The sources do not say when the rain will arrive or how long it will last.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.