Jakarta – Police are investigating a series of traffic accidents triggered by wildfire haze in Lampung's Tulang Bawang regency, Lampung province that left two people dead and five others injured.
First Insp. Farhan Maulana Affianto, head of the traffic unit at the Tulang Bawang police said the crashes occurred on Tuesday afternoon along the Trans-Sumatra Highway in Gedung Meneng district.
"A truck travelling from Central Lampung regency attempted to overtake another vehicle when it sideswiped an oncoming minivan, triggering a chain of collisions involving six other vehicles, mostly trucks and pickups," Farhan said on Thursday as quoted by Kompas.id.
The crashes killed two people at the scene and injured five others, including two who suffered serious injuries, police said.
Farhan said witness accounts indicated that thick smoke from a nearby wildfire had severely reduced visibility and may have contributed to the crashes although the exact cause remains under investigation.
"Police are coordinating with relevant agencies to investigate the cause of the fire and determine whether it was deliberately set or involved any other legal violations," Farhan said.
He added police are also working with firefighters to contain the blaze and address sources of smoke, while stepping up patrols and warning residents against burning land or household rubbish.
"We urged motorists to reduce speed and avoid driving through smoke-obscured roads when visibility was poor," he said.
Ferdian Krisnanto, head of the Sumatra Forest and Land Fire Control Agency, said authorities were gathering more information to identify the source of the smoke, including by examining wind direction and coordinating with relevant agencies in Lampung
"Local environmental officials had reported a fire on farmland beside the road where the crashes occurred, although no active hotspots had been detected in the area as of Thursday," he said.
Ferdian added that the crashes highlighted the wider consequences of wildfires, which can pose risks beyond environmental damage.
As of late August, nearly 900,000 hectares had burned across Indonesia, an area roughly four times the size of Tokyo, according to independent forest monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas.
Reports of deliberate land burning and fires inside palm oil, pulpwood, mining and other concessions have further complicated the crisis, which has been exacerbated by prolonged drought linked to the El Nino climate pattern.
In Sumatra, more than 36,000 ha of land had burned this year, including in the Riau Islands and Bangka Belitung Islands, according to forestry ministry data.
Riau province recorded the largest burned area, at 15,738 ha, followed by the Riau Islands with 5,760 ha and Lampung with 4,890 ha.
The fires have also caused widespread disruption, with thick haze reducing visibility across Sumatra, forcing airlines to delay or divert dozens of flights and prompting authorities in several regions to close schools or move classes online to limit exposure.
The haze has spread beyond Indonesia, affecting neighbouring Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
In Malaysia, authorities closed schools in four states and two federal territories, including Kuala Lumpur, on Friday as worsening haze pushed air pollution levels in some areas to among the world's worst, AFP reported.
Some schools in the central state of Pahang were also closed.
Three siblings died in a motorcycle crash in Malaysia's Johor state on Thursday after setting out to visit their school despite its closure due to haze, The Strait Times reported.
Nordaniel Aiman Norlizan, 18, was riding the motorcycle with his younger siblings, Nordaniel Fikri Norlizan, 11, and Puteri Naufa Raisha Norlizan, eight, when the crash occurred.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation, although several news outlets reported that the motorcycle collided with a lorry in hazy conditions.