Report: Indonesia fire pollution kills 3,560
Pollution from smoke emitted by months of wildfires across Indonesia caused an estimated 3,560 deaths in the vast Southeast Asian archipelago in September, according to a new study.
The same month, about 57.8 million people in Indonesia were inhaling unhealthy to hazardous air, said the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea), a Helsinki-based think tank.
“Worsening air quality due to forest and land fires in Indonesia pushed the estimated death toll to 3,560 cases in September 2026, a twofold increase from the August estimate,” a Crea statement said on Thursday.
The Crea study estimated the number of deaths brought about by PM2.5 pollution in the short-term, meaning a matter of days. The World Health Organization has linked exposure to PM2.5 particles to a higher risk for illness and premature death.
Most estimated deaths occurred on Indonesia’s part of Borneo Island, as well as on Java and Sumatra Islands, and in the country’s east.
The researchers also looked at nonfire pollution from urban power generation, industry, and transportation, and found it had caused a further 1,750 deaths in September for a total of 5,310 in the country of about 290 million people.
More than 330,000 cases of acute respiratory infection have been recorded countrywide.
The resulting haze has sent pollution levels soaring as far afield as Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste.
‘Predictable and avoidable’
In the report, the CEO of Landscape Indonesia consultancy, Agus Sari, pointed to the government’s “weak preparedness” for what he described as a “predictable and avoidable” disaster.
“Indonesia should be able to prepare for what is going to happen. The fact that we are not prepared at all is purely a matter of lacking the will,” Agus said.
The government on Wednesday defended its approach to the fires, saying in a statement more than 72,000 people had been deployed in cloud-seeding and firefighting operations, more than 2,100 doctors and health workers activated in hard-hit areas, and 5.3 million masks distributed.
