Visibility drops to 400 metres as thick haze blankets Indonesia's Palembang

JAKARTA: (Bernama) Thick haze from forest and land fires reduced visibility to as low as 400 metres in Palembang, the capital of Indonesia's South Sumatra province, on Thursday (Oct 8), a day after three flights were disrupted at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II International Airport.

National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) Disaster Data, Information and Communication Centre acting head Berton Panjaitan said smoke persisted from morning until afternoon, affecting outdoor activities.

"BNPB urges residents to wear masks when outdoors and exercise caution when driving due to reduced visibility,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

Berton said 354 high-confidence hotspots were detected on Wednesday across South Sumatra, one of Indonesia's six priority provinces for forest and land fire control, alongside 92 active fire spots affecting approximately 390.61 hectares of land.

He said joint ground and aerial firefighting teams had extinguished fires covering 319.41 hectares as of Wednesday, leaving approximately 71.2 hectares requiring further operations on Thursday.

Weather modification operations had yet to begin due to unfavourable conditions for rain-cloud formation, he said. - Bernama