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Malaysia declares emergency over toxic haze from fires in shared Borneo region

From El Universal · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Ongoing story
  • Malaysia declared an emergency across Serian district in Sarawak because smoke from fires in neighboring Indonesia created dangerous air pollution.
  • The air pollution index exceeded 500, compared with Malaysia’s hazardous threshold of 300.
  • Nearly 650 schools in the Serian area will close for at least a week, while only essential services will operate.

Malaysia has declared an emergency in Serian district, in Sarawak on the island of Borneo, after smoke from forest fires in neighboring Indonesia produced hazardous toxic haze.

Borneo is shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, and fires have burned across the island for weeks. Malaysia’s King, Sultan Ibrahim, authorised the emergency declaration after air pollution in Serian reached a level considered dangerous to public health and safety.

The air pollution index exceeded 500 on Friday. Malaysia considers readings above 300 hazardous. Only essential services will operate under the emergency measures.

The government also said nearly 650 schools in the Serian area would close from Monday for at least one week because of the pollution.

About this summary

Originally published by El Universal in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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