In brief
A sudden wave of orange haze has covered the Indonesian city of Palangka Raya, the capital of Central Kalimantan. Local witnesses filmed the smog rolling in over a landscape still ablaze with wildfires. The national environment ministry logged an extreme air‑pollution index of 1,205 – four times the hazardous threshold of 300. Scientists blame slash‑and‑burn agricultural clearing and limited firefighting for the spike, warning millions in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia of serious health risks. View the footage and read more about the looming haze crisis here.
Palangka Raya, the capital of Central Kalimantan, is shrouded in a thick orange smog that has descended overnight, according to local witnesses.
Video footage captured by residents shows the hazy blanket spreading across the city, choking skies that were already dimmed by wildfires still raging in the surrounding forests.
Indonesia's national environmental agency recorded an air pollution index of 1,205 in Palangka Raya – a figure four times higher than the hazardous threshold of 300 set by the government, and the worst level in the region in months.
Experts say the haze is shaped by slash‑and‑burn clearing practices and limited firefighting resources, warning that the toxic mixture threatens the health of millions in Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia.
