Acrid Smoke

Acrid smoke hung heavily over the Malaysian town of Serian, seeping into homes and cloaking roadside stalls, as residents navigated an air-quality emergency fuelled by transboundary haze from Indonesia's raging fires. Malaysia declared a state of emergency in Sarawak state's Serian district on Borneo island on Friday, after air pollution readings reached critical levels.

Toxic haze has shrouded parts of Indonesia and Malaysia for weeks as Jakarta struggles to contain fires that have scorched large tracts of Borneo and Sumatra, with the plumes drifting into neighbouring Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Serian became the first district in the country this year to declare an emergency when API levels passed 500 and peaked at 512.

"Even at home"

"I rarely leave the house when it's like this. I only come out to buy food and groceries, then I'll immediately head home," said Ajen Anak Kunok, 64, a retired technician who spent a week battling shortness of breath and a sore throat. "Even when I turn on the air conditioner, I can still smell the smoke in my house."

The emergency declaration will keep some 647 schools closed until at least the end of the week in Serian district, which has a population of around 154,000. Roadside durian sellers waited in vain for customers. "I'm worried that my income will be affected," said one seller who struggled to earn even half his usual weekend income.