Wildfire Smoke Killed 3,560 People in Indonesia in September, Report Says
Toxic smoke from wildfires killed 3,560 people in Indonesia in September 2026, according to a report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a research group focused on energy and air pollution. Al Jazeera
The report counts 5,310 air pollution deaths in Indonesia for September, a rise of 42 percent from an estimated 3,740 in August. The remaining 1,750 September deaths were linked to chronic emissions from urban and industrial sources rather than fires.
The share of deaths caused by fire smoke varied by region. In Kalimantan, Indonesia's part of the island of Borneo, smoke accounted for 94 to 99 percent of pollution-related deaths. On Sumatra, the island to the west, it accounted for more than 80 percent.
The number of people exposed to poor air was also high. A record peak of 58 million people in Indonesia breathed air rated "unhealthy" to "hazardous" in September. In Kalimantan, the number of people breathing hazardous-level air rose from 2.8 million to 6.4 million during the worst days of the month.
The smoke did not stay within Indonesia's borders. It raised pollution levels in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and East Timor.
The fires burned during an El Niño weather pattern, a recurring climate cycle, and a severe drought. Earlier in September, Reuters reported that Indonesia's fire emissions from September 1 to 7 reached 19.7 million metric tons, and that Indonesia had overtaken Russia to record the world's highest fire emissions that week. Reuters
Health effects were also visible early in the month. Indonesia's Health Ministry said that as of September 9, 113,336 people were suffering from wildfire-related respiratory illnesses, up from 50,891 on September 1. Reuters
The Indonesian government said it deployed more than 72,000 people for cloud-seeding, a method of spraying particles into clouds to encourage rain, and firefighting operations. It also said it activated more than 2,100 doctors and health workers in the hardest-hit fire areas and distributed 5.3 million masks.
