Wildfire Smoke Killed 3,560 People in Indonesia in September, Report Finds

Toxic smoke from wildfires killed 3,560 people in Indonesia last month, according to a new report. Persistent wildfires sparked by drought have enveloped the region in smog.

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 in August to 5,310.

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 to 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 fires, the report notes.

Deaths on the southern island of Java, meanwhile, remained largely tied to urban and industrial sources, the study found.

The report added that the number of citizens exposed to “unhealthy” to “hazardous” air quality reached a record peak of 58 million in September.

“Citizens inhaling hazardous-level air in Kalimantan alone nearly tripled from 2.8 million to 6.4 million during the worst days of the month,” it found.

Amid an El Nino weather pattern, Indonesia has been dealing with devastating wildfires sparked by severe drought, which have led to deforestation and sent toxic smog across the Southeast Asian archipelago.

The fires have also raised pollution levels in neighbouring countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and East Timor.

The government in Jakarta is facing increasing criticism for its response to the fires. On Wednesday it defended its approach, noting it has deployed more than 72,000 people for cloud-seeding and firefighting operations, activated more than 2,100 doctors and health workers in hard-hit areas, and distributed 5.3 million masks.