Photo via Al Jazeera

Smoke from wildfires killed 3,500 people in Indonesia in September: Report

Read the original at Al Jazeera ↗
Cite

Al Jazeera Staff. (2026, October 30). Smoke from wildfires killed 3,500 people in Indonesia in September: Report. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/30/smoke-from-wildfires-killed-3500-people-in-indonesia-in-september-report?traffic_source=rss

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Al Jazeera · collected 2026-10-30 · by Al Jazeera Staff

Quick Summary

A report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air indicates that toxic smoke from wildfires killed 3,560 people in Indonesia last month. The study found a 42 percent increase in air pollution-related deaths to an estimated total of 5,310 across the country in September. Wildfires caused most of these fatalities in regions like Kalimantan and Sumatra, while Java experienced fewer fire-related deaths due to its higher levels of urban and industrial air pollution.
Written by AI on 2026-10-30, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of October 30, 2026, a new report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) states that toxic smoke from wildfires in Indonesia killed 3,560 people in September 2026. The study indicates this is a twofold increase compared to August's estimate. Additionally, chronic urban and industrial air pollution caused an additional 1,750 deaths during the same period. The regions most affected by these fires were Kalimantan on Borneo and Sumatra, where wildfire smoke accounted for 94-99% and over 80% of air pollution-related deaths respectively. Java's death toll remained primarily due to urban and industrial sources. These findings highlight the urgent need for policy reforms to address Indonesia’s worsening air quality crisis.

Written for “Smoke From Indonesia Wildfires Kills Over 3500” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 116773 · logged 2026-10-30

Story

📰 Smoke From Indonesia Wildfires Kills Over 3500
Environment · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Indonesia’s wildfire smoke crisis claims over 3,500 lives in September Same event
South China Morning Post
Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 64/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
12
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
1 of 12 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
60/100
Al Jazeera's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Environment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-30 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Al Jazeera · 4438 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)
2026-10-03
Tennessee prisons official resigns after Christa Pike’s failed US execution
2026-09-30
Indonesia suspends five officials over luxury apartments for inmates

Who wrote this

Al Jazeera Staff
757 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 Sources told Al Jazeera that a meeting could possibly be held within a week, either in Doha or Istanbul.
2026-10-30 · mixed framing · Qatari officials in Iran in bid to revive ceasefire deal with US
🔮 Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta has announced it will shut down, citing pressure from the authorities.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Russia ‘forces’ closure of investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta
🔮 Evacuations will continue until 2pm local time (12:00 GMT).
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Aid convoy enters besieged Ukrainian town Oleshky
🔮 A federal judge has ruled against enforcing a new rule by the administration of US President Donald Trump that would require chronically ill people on Medicaid, a public health insurance programme for low-income individuals, to prove themselves “medically frail” to qualify for work exemptions.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · US judge blocks Trump’s Medicaid rule forcing ill to prove impairment
🔮 “The show could have been avoided – the airports are right here,” she said on state television.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Venezuela’s Machado lauds Trump for ‘freedom’, urges 2027 elections
🔮 The updated lawsuit on Thursday comes just days before the November 3 midterm election, which will determine control of Congress.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Trump administration renews bid to block Alaska election results
🔮 With only days left until the 2026 midterm elections, United States President Donald Trump has announced he will scale back his packed rally schedule, cancelling scheduled appearances in Iowa and Kansas.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · Trump cancels Iowa, Kansas midterm events, opts for ‘tele-rallies’
🔮 Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Thursday that security measures, including the use of armoured vehicles and water cannon introduced last week, will be strengthened.
2026-10-30 · assertive framing · France braces for ‘very high risk’ of disorder at Halloween protests
🔮 Recommended Stories list of 3 items- list 1 of 3Israeli settlers savagely attack journalists in occupied West Bank - list 2 of 3Activists accuse Israeli settlers of assault in occupied West Bank - list 3 of 3A week of Israel’s lockdown in Hebron: What’s happened, when will it end?
2026-10-29 · assertive framing · Palestinians injured, arrested in Israeli raids across West Bank
🔮 The final results of the Knesset elections will be certified and announced by Wednesday.
2026-10-29 · mixed framing · Israel election result shows no overall majority as vote count complete
Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by Al Jazeera Staff
Qatari officials in Iran in bid to revive ceasefire deal with US
2026-10-30 · Al Jazeera
Russia ‘forces’ closure of investigative newspaper Novaya Gazeta
2026-10-30 · Al Jazeera
Aid convoy enters besieged Ukrainian town Oleshky
2026-10-30 · Al Jazeera
Venezuela’s Machado lauds Trump for ‘freedom’, urges 2027 elections
2026-10-30 · Al Jazeera
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 757 articles by Al Jazeera Staff →

Topics

3Malaysia Indonesia Kalimantan Singapore the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air

Subjects

Indonesia GPE · 6× Kalimantan GPE · 2× Singapore GPE · 2× 3Malaysia GPE · 1× 3Sky ORG · 1× Borneo GPE · 1× Helsinki GPE · 1× Java GPE · 1× Sumatra GPE · 1× the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air ORG · 1×

Narrative

Recommended Stories list of 3 items- list 1 of 3Malaysia’s Firefly cancels flights to Singapore over haze from Indonesia - list 2 of 3Sky turns orange as wildfires rage across Indonesia - list 3 of 3Four killed as Indonesia battles worst forest fires in more than a decade Toxic smoke from forest and land fires caused 3,560 deaths last month, the report said.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-30
2026-10-30 · Al Jazeera
Smoke from wildfires killed 3,500 people in Indonesia in September: Report · assertive framing

Claims (12 extracted, 1 hedged)

Toxic smoke from wildfires killed 3,560 people in Indonesia last month, according to a new report. uncertain
smoke → kill → report
The study, released by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) on Thursday, found that air pollution-related deaths in Indonesia surged by 42 percent in September, rising from an estimated 3,740 people killed in August to 5,310. asserted
deaths → release → 5,310
Recommended Stories list of 3 items- list 1 of 3Malaysia’s Firefly cancels flights to Singapore over haze from Indonesia - list 2 of 3Sky turns orange as wildfires rage across Indonesia - list 3 of 3Four killed as Indonesia battles worst forest fires in more than a decade Toxic smoke from forest and land fires caused 3,560 deaths last month, the report said. asserted
report → cancel → deaths
“Chronic, non-fire emissions from urban and industrial air pollution sources” caused another 1,750 deaths, the Helsinki-based think tank found. asserted
tank → cause → deaths
Toxic fire smoke accounted for 94-99 percent of air pollution-related deaths in Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, and more than 80 percent on Sumatra, the regions worst affected by the fires, the report notes. asserted
report → account → fires
Deaths on the southern island of Java, meanwhile, remained largely tied to urban and industrial sources, the study found. asserted
study → tie → sources
It added that the number of citizens exposed to “unhealthy” to “hazardous” air quality reached a record peak of 58 million in September. asserted
number → add → September
“Citizens inhaling hazardous-level air in Kalimantan alone nearly tripled from 2.8 million to 6.4 million during the worst days of the month,” it found. asserted
it → inhale → month
Amid an El Nino weather pattern, Indonesia has been dealing with devastating wildfires sparked by severe drought, which have led to deforestation and sent toxic smog across the Southeast Asian archipelago. asserted
which → deal → archipelago
It has also raised pollution levels in neighbouring countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and East Timor. asserted
It → raise → Malaysia
The government in Jakarta is facing increasing criticism for its response to the fires. asserted
government → face → fires
On Wednesday, it defended its approach, noting it has deployed more than 72,000 people to carry out cloud-seeding and firefighting operations, activated more than 2,100 doctors and health workers in hard-hit areas, and distributed 5.3 million masks. asserted
it → defend → masks
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support
Terms · Privacy · beta v2.0.0
Articles to 30 Oct 2026