Indonesia wildfire fuelled by El Niño razes almost 300 homes
Hundreds of people displaced in Bangka Belitung province as shift in wind direction drove blaze towards settlement
TL;DR
- A forest fire on Sumatra, Indonesia, fueled by El Niño, has destroyed nearly 300 homes.
- Hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate their village in Bangka Belitung province.
- The fire reignited in peatland due to shifting winds, quickly spreading towards the settlement.
- The village was built on former peatland in a protected area, converted into a housing complex last year.
- El Niño has intensified the wildfires this year, which are also linked to slash-and-burn land clearances.
- The fires have caused severe local haze, tens of thousands of respiratory illness cases, and air pollution spikes in Singapore and Malaysia.
- Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has ordered maximum efforts to extinguish the wildfires, with over 60,000 personnel deployed.