Smoke from wildfires killed 3,500 people in Indonesia in September: Report

Persistent wildfires sparked by drought have enveloped the region in smog.Published On 30 Oct 202630 Oct 2026Toxic smoke from wildfires killed 3,560 people in Indonesia last month, according to a new report.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 people killed in August to 5,310.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Malaysia’s Firefly cancels flights to Singapore over haze from Indonesialist 2 of 3Sky turns orange as wildfires rage across Indonesialist 3 of 3Four killed as Indonesia battles worst forest fires in more than a decadeend of listToxic 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 94-99 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...