haze from indonesian forest fires reaches southern philippines, causes air travel disruptions - top air purifiers

Authorities say smoke from the Indonesian forest fire has spread to the Philippines, disrupting air traffic and prompting residents to wear masks.
The southern Philippine island of Mindanao is more than 1,200 kilometers away from the nearest fire, but the smog has become a worsening problem for the entire island in the past week, aviation authorities said.
Philippine civil aviation authority spokesman Eric Apollonio said it had disrupted air traffic by spreading to Cebu and Negros, the central island of the country, on Friday.
He added that eight domestic flights have been canceled since the problem began in October 16, and dozens of flights have been delayed, affecting thousands of passengers.
In some cases, the pilot could not see the runway when landing.
"It's very dangerous if you can't see the runway.
You can't always rely on musical instruments . "
He said the flight delays also disrupted the busy airport in the capital Manila, some of the island of Mindanao-
The flight was delayed.
Slash, Indonesia, for nearly two months-and-
Burning farmers suffocate large areas of the SouthEast Asia.
This has led to a surge in the incidence of respiratory diseases, school closures, and the cancellation of dozens of flights and some international activities.
According to Health Ministry spokesman Lychee Lee Suy, the smog is not serious enough to cause a medical alert, but residents in the affected areas are advised to wear masks. "The content [of the smoke]
Not that much, but even a small amount of ash can trigger asthma attacks or aerobic exercise.
"Lung obstruction disease," he said.
A minister said Friday that Indonesia is preparing warships as a last resort to evacuate children and others who breathe smoke from forest fires.
Coordination Security Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said: "We are looking for a place where babies are evacuated when necessary . " He was referring to the preparation of six warships and two countries. owned ferries.
However, Mr. panjitan said that the vessels would only be used as a last resort if other efforts, including the transfer of residents to government offices with air purifiers, proved unsuccessful.
The former general, who was assigned by President Joko wi to oversee the reaction to the smog, said the country sees the problem as a national disaster, but no state of emergency was declared.
Earlier this month, Indonesia asked several countries, including neighboring Singapore and Malaysia, Australia and Russia, to provide assistance, equipment and personnel to help put out the fire.
Speaking Friday near the epicenter of the West Sumatra fire, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said: "Obviously there is a challenge ahead of Indonesia.
"They have asked for support from Australia, and we did provide fire fighting equipment in the form of a leading aircraft and a Hercules, and they stayed here for a week, she said: "In some forest fires, about 22 runs were carried out and about 300,000 litres of water were dropped. ".
Note the success of Russian Be-
The 200 bomber, Mr. Panjaitan, said he had asked for similar aircraft assistance from Canada, the United States and France.
Experts say the fire is spreading to the new area of Papua and will not likely be put out until next year. South-
For years, East Asia has been suffering from the annual smog caused by Indonesian forests and mud coal cleaning, and Indonesia faces increasing political pressure to stop the problem.
This year's fire has benefited from the dry weather caused by El Nino weather phenomena and pushed air pollution throughout the region to dangerous levels.
AFP/Reuters Special Topic: Air
Pollution, fire, environment
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