Some 29 of 75 hikers trapped near the crater and on the slopes of Mount Marapi, West Sumatra, during its eruption on Sunday came from Riau, and three of them .
Forest fire alert raised for 6 regencies in Indonesia s Riau province channelnewsasia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from channelnewsasia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Indonesian province declares 8-month peat fire emergency
Riau governor wants to emulate 2020 efforts to reduce haze that saw an 84 percent drop in fires from the previous year
Indonesian firefighters battle a forest fire in Kampar, Riau, in September 2019. (Photo: Wahyudi/AFP)
A province on Indonesia’s Sumatra island has declared an eight-month emergency to try and prevent peat fires that blanket the region and beyond with harmful haze each year.
Riau province governor Syamsuar declared the emergency on Feb. 15 following a virtual meeting of local government officials in the provincial capital Pekanbaru.
He said the emergency will stay in place until Oct. 31 and was declared now because of several fires that had already broken out.