Indonesia: Toxic haze from forest fires affects large parts of the country

M/S People looking at fog over river, Palembang
M/S 'Palembang' sign
W/S Docks covered with fog
SOT, Wali, local resident (Indonesian): ''Thank God I am still in healthy condition, in this situation it is important to keep myself healthy.''
M/S People with facemasks
SOT, Suhadi, local resident (Indonesian): ''It is very hard to breath in this situation, because of the smoke. Add to that a lot of dust in the air, and my eyes feel sore.''
M/S Traffic officer with face mask
SOT, Sam, local resident (Indonesian): ''As a watch repairer it is very difficult for me to see in this situation. My eyes feel sore when I have to fix a watch. I have to use glasses all the time to protect my eyes from the smoke.''
M/S People in market with face masks
SOT, Nazarudin, local resident (Indonesian): ''Since 2009 when smoke first hit this area, this is the worst one. My children, grand children all have trouble breathing because of this, really the worst situation.''
M/S People at hospital's waiting room
SOT, Andika, nurse (Indonesian): ''We hope that the Indonesian government can handle the forest fires as soon as possible so this smoke problem can be gone.''
M/S Doctor attending to patient
M/S Child with face mask
SCRIPT
Toxic haze from forest fires in Indonesia's Borneo and Sumatra islands covered large parts of the country, as filmed in the city of Palembang in south Sumatra on Thursday. Many residents were seen wearing face masks amid worsening air quality.
''Since 2009 when smoke first hit this area, this is the worst one. My children, grand children all have trouble breathing because of this, really the worst situation,'' said Nazarudin, a Palembang resident.
The government has reportedly deployed thousands of security personnel and water-bombing aircraft to fight the fires.
The haze also affected the neighbouring Malaysia where thousands of schools were reported to have been closed on Thursday.