3,000 South Sumatra Residents Pray for Rain as 1,429 Wildfire Hot Spots Choke Palembang
Updated
Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 25
3,000 South Sumatra Residents Pray for Rain as 1,429 Wildfire Hot Spots Choke Palembang
1 articles · Updated · The Associated Press · Aug 25
Summary
About 3,000 residents gathered in Palembang on Tuesday for a special Islamic prayer for rain as thick haze from wildfires cut visibility and forced daytime drivers to use headlights.
South Sumatra led Indonesia in wildfire hot spots with 1,429, after prolonged dry weather raised fire risks across forests and peatland in the province.
Nearly 940 square kilometers burned nationwide in July alone, including more than 20 square kilometers in South Sumatra, while smoke from the fires drifted into Malaysia and Brunei.
Indonesia has deployed 30 aircraft and 22 helicopters for cloud-seeding, water-bombing and other firefighting operations, and police have arrested 72 suspects as four companies face investigation.
The fires, often linked to low-cost land clearing by plantation owners and farmers, are a recurring dry-season crisis that disrupts transport, harms health and strains ties with neighboring countries.