Death toll rises from Indonesia smog scourge
Acrid haze blanketing parts of Indonesia has claimed a number of lives, the government says. Slash-and-burn practices across the archipelago have created a haze that has blanketed much of Southeast Asia in recent months.
The death toll from a smoky haze hanging over much of Indonesia was almost double the previous figure as the crisis from widespread forest fires worsens, the government said Wednesday.
“As of this morning, there are 19 people who have died from the effects of haze,” Social Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa said Wednesday from the capital Jakarta.
He said the victims were all from Sumatra and Kalimantan — Indonesia’s half of Borneo island — where fires have been deliberately lit by farmers employing slash-and-burn practices to clear land quickly and cheaply.
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Source News: DW
