Kota Palembang 'disappears' due to thick haze

SRIVIJIYA - Palembang City in Indonesia 'disappeared' today from the naked eye following the thick haze that enveloped the town for several days.

Indonesia CNN on Monday reported the city with a population of 1.8 million was pollutedthe thick haze reportedly from the open fires at the forest and land near South Sumatera.

3.7 million masks were distributed to residents as a precaution to prevent infections.

The distribution was carried out by the South Kalimantan Secretariat Operations Bureau in four other affected areas which were Banjarmasin, Banjarbaru, Kabupaten Banjar, and Batola.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) reported 353 hot spots were identified in Kalimantan and 113 more in Sumatera.

Neighbouring nations including Singapore and Malaysia were affected by the thick haze causing air quality to drop for both nations.

MetMalaysia director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said the trajectory of the haze would affect several states in East Malaysia.

As of 2pm 13 areas in the Peninsular recorded unhealthy levels of the Air Polution Index (API).

The API value in Nilai was 162 while Port Dickson, Shah Alam and Petaling Jaya each recorded the API of 155.