Malaysia Declares Emergency in 1 Sarawak Town as Indonesian Wildfire Haze Spreads
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 4
Malaysia Declares Emergency in 1 Sarawak Town as Indonesian Wildfire Haze Spreads
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 4
Summary
Malaysia declared an emergency in a town in Sarawak on Friday after smoke from Indonesian wildfires pushed air quality to dangerous levels.
Weeks of intensifying fires in Indonesian provinces on Borneo and Sumatra sent toxic haze hundreds of miles across the sea, blanketing parts of Malaysia and the Philippines.
Sarawak had already temporarily shut hundreds of schools last month, and in Kuala Lumpur some parents kept children home as residents reported coughing, nosebleeds and other haze-related illness.
The spread of smoke across Southeast Asia has raised fears of a broader regional health crisis as neighboring countries absorb pollution from Indonesia's fire season.