Australia to join Indonesia’s wildfire water-bombing operations
The support includes a C-130 Hercules, a Cessna Citation aircraft and a Large Air Tanker capable of dropping up to 15,000 litres of water per sortie.
Indonesia has enlisted Australia's assistance in battling its most severe wildfires in a decade, the government announced on Thursday. The support comes a day after a water-bombing helicopter operated by Indonesia crashed during a firefighting mission, resulting in the death of three crew members and injuries to several others.
Australia's New South Wales Rural Fire Service has committed a C-130 Hercules and a Cessna Citation aircraft to support Indonesia's firefighting operations from November 6 to 12. The New South Wales agency will deploy a Large Air Tanker aircraft, capable of dropping up to 15,000 liters of water per sortie, with the potential for six sorties per day.
The Indonesian disaster mitigation agency highlighted that the support includes a significant air tanker aircraft, emphasizing the country's ongoing struggle with intense wildfires on islands such as Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua.
As of November 2, health ministry data revealed that more than 400,000 cases of acute respiratory infections were reported across seven Indonesian provinces due to the fires and resulting haze. Indonesian disaster agency chief Kristomei Sianturi noted that the country is undertaking massive efforts to control the fires, employing water-bombing and cloud seeding operations while seeking foreign assistance.
Written by urgent.news from Free Malaysia Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
