Malaysia Declares Emergency as Serian Haze Index Hits 519

Key facts

• Malaysia declared a state of emergency in the Serian district of Sarawak state after thick haze from forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia pushed air pollution to hazardous levels on Friday.
• The Air Pollution Index (API) reached 519 in Serian on Friday, according to government data.
• Malaysian authorities categorise API readings above 300 as hazardous, with a measurement of 500 serving as the threshold for declaring an emergency.
• The emergency declaration was issued by Malaysia's king, Sultan Ibrahim, on the advice of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Sarawak premier Abang Johari Openg.
• Sarawak, on Borneo, has been heavily affected by fires on the Indonesian side of the island, with haze forcing school closures in some parts of the state.
• Sarawak disaster management committee chairman Douglas Uggah Embas said the state had requested an emergency declaration after API readings breached 500.
• The emergency is confined to the Serian district, covering an area of about a 20-kilometre (12.4-mile) radius, with essential services such as supermarkets, petrol stations, and banks expected to continue operating.
• Cloud-seeding operations were being carried out to combat the haze.
• Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy in which the king has a largely ceremonial role, but the monarch can decide whether an emergency should be declared based on grave threats to national security, the economy, or public order.