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Indonesia fights fire with dry ice as toxic haze spreads across region
Confirmed
In Short: Four people died fighting blazes in Indonesia's Java island, as toxic smoke from wildfires spread across Southeast Asia, closing schools and fueling a surge of respiratory complaints in the region, authorities said Friday.
Singapore, which enacted the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act in 2014 after a severe pollution episode in 2013, is investigating four Indonesian companies over their alleged role in the 2015 haze crisis, a case that strained relations with Jakarta.
In a desperate bid to combat the haze, the Indonesian government is testing an unusual new approach: dispersing dry ice by plane across the province of South Sumatra. This follows attempts at cloud seeding and water bombing.
Critically endangered Bornean orangutans are fleeing forests as staff at Rangkong research station work round the clock to stave off the blaze. The Cabang Panti area, one of the only truly ecologically intact tracts of lowland tropical rainforest in Borneo, is under threat.
Mount Anak Krakatau, a volcanic island between Java and Sumatra, showed signs of activity and erupted for 30 seconds, temporarily suspending flight operations at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
Total affected flights across eight airports reached more than 1,500, affecting 170,000 passengers. The El Nino weather phenomenon, which could be the strongest in four decades, has contributed to creating drier conditions, making it easier for fires to spread.
Indonesia's fires, which have burned for about a month, have released roughly 10 percent as much carbon as the 2015 fires, according to Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) senior scientist Mark Parrington.
The Indonesian government's efforts to boost domestic energy production and exploration are unfolding against the backdrop of renewed conflict in the Middle East, which has sharpened investor and policymaker focus on the risks of import dependence across the APAC region.
The haze crisis has drawn international attention, with Singapore and Malaysia closing schools and urging residents to stay indoors.
The dry ice project is part of a broader strategy to mitigate the environmental and health impacts of the ongoing fires.
What's confirmed
- An independent estimate from the Nusantara Atlas portal says nearly 300,000 hectares of land have burned in Indonesia so far this year.
- “Due to increased activity from the Mount Anak Krakatau eruption, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has temporarily suspended flight operations from 5.30am to 9.30am,” the airport said in a travel advisory early Sunday.
What's still developing
- Four people died on Indonesia's Java island fighting the blazes that have been sending toxic smoke across southeast Asia, closing schools and fuelling a surge of respiratory complaints in the region, authorities said Friday.
- The forestry department in the same statement said there was a significant jump in hotspots in several areas in six "priority provinces" where 615 so-called hotspots were detected.
- Four people tackling a wildfire in a national park on Indonesia’s island of Java have been killed, the Forestry Ministry said, as the country battles its worst forest fires in more than a decade.
- In a statement, it expressed “deep condolences” and paid tribute to the “courage and dedication” of the officers, volunteers and residents working on the fire lines.
- A blanket of toxic haze is enveloping parts of Indonesia and spreading into Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, as weeks-long wildfires continue to burn.
- Millions of people across large swathes of South East Asia have been exposed to the smog, which in some areas has fuelled "acutely unhealthy" pollution more than 15 times the World Health Organization's recommended level.
- High-intensity wildfires on Indonesia’s Borneo and Sumatra islands are worsening air quality and affecting neighbouring countries in South East Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
- 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.
- Fri, Oct 16, 2026 | Jumada al-Awwal 4, 1448 | Fajr 05:00 | DXB 32.4 °C Thick haze turned the skies in Indonesia's Palangkaraya apocalyptic shades of yellow and orange on Thursday, reducing visibility to a few dozen metres as wildfires cause a regional air pollution crisis.
- In the Indonesian province of central Kalimantan on Wednesday, the ISPU air pollution index exceeded 1,200 – or four times the “hazardous” level of 300 – environment ministry data showed.
- Disney + is joining forces with Indonesia’s leading streamer Vidio, creating a new local subscription bundle and content-sharing partnership that adds to the Hollywood giant’s expanding network of distribution alliances across Asia -Pacific.
- Indonesia’s Geological Agency said the volcanic island located in Indonesia’s Sunda Strait between the main Java and Sumatra islands had showed signs of activity since Friday before erupting for 30 seconds at 3.53am on Sunday.