Palangkaraya, Indonesia – Thick haze turned the skies in Indonesia’s Palangkaraya shades of yellow and orange on Thursday, reducing visibility to a few dozen meters as wildfires cause a regional air pollution crisis.
Kuala Lumpur topped monitoring site IQAir’s ranking of the most polluted major global cities by Thursday, followed closely by Singapore, and with Indonesia’s Medan and capital Jakarta just behind.
Fires burning for months in Indonesia have sent smoke across the region, and on Thursday East Timor began a three‑day school closure prompted by the haze.
But those most affected are residents at the epicenter, including in Kalimantan’s Palangkaraya where skies turned deep orange on Wednesday night and remained a grimy yellow on Thursday.
“These past few days, the smoke has been thick, and since I work outdoors, I’m forced to breathe it in even though I wear a mask,” said motorbike taxi driver Heri, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.
