Haze hangs heavy over Singapore

  • 11 years ago
Firefighters in Indonesia are attempting to extinguish at least some of the fires that have been causing major air quality problems for people in southeast Asia.

Although illegal, the slash-and-burn technique of clearing fields is common practice here and for the past six days, the smoke from those illegal fires has caused the worst air quality in Singapore's history.

At 10 am Saturday morning, the pollution standards index in the normally clean and green Singapore was 326...anything above 100 is considered unhealthy.

A few brave soles ventured outdoors wearing face masks but the government has advised children, the elderly and people with lung conditions to stay inside.

Indonesian officials have said companies responsible for the fires would be held accountable.