Health crisis grips Indonesians enduring haze: ‘my eyes sting, my head hurts’

Struggling to breathe through the acrid haze emanating from wildfires on Indonesia’s Borneo Island, residents said on Wednesday they feared for their health but had little to do but wait out the foul-smelling hazard.

Indonesia, which shares Borneo with Malaysia and Brunei, is grappling with forest fires that have ravaged swathes of the island, partly caused by the El Nino climate phenomenon that has also affected other countries in Southeast Asia and beyond.

In Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan province, the thick, yellow smoke was so intense that it had paralysed the international airport over the weekend.

“My eyes sting, my head hurts. Over the past week it’s been getting worse,” resident Anggita Putri said.