Choking smoke from raging forest fires has caused its first two deaths in Indonesia as a health-threatening haze hung over six Southeast Asian nations Wednesday.
Smoke from the fires, many of them deliberately lit to clear land in Indonesia, has severely polluted neighboring Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the southern Philippines and southern Thailand.
The two Indonesians died of breathing problems. Officials declined to disclose their identities or when or where they had died.
Suyono Yahya, a People's Welfare Ministry official, said more than 32,000 people have suffered respiratory complaints as well as eye and other infections in the past two months.
The Environment Ministry said satellite images showed that hundreds of fires were still burning in more than 50 locations.
Most were on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Others raged across Java, Sulawesi and Irian Jaya on New Guinea. An estimated 300,000 hectares (740,000 acres) have been blackened.
Officials accuse 176 lumber and plantation companies of starting fires as a cheap and easy way to clear land despite tough new penalties for forest burners.
Meteorologists say the fires burn fiercely because of a severe drought blamed on El Nino, a climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean that many scientists say causes abnormal weather around the globe.
Weather forecasters warn that seasonal monsoon rains needed to put out fires, clear the skies and save withering crops could be delayed for weeks by El Nino.
Indonesia has maintained that it is doing its best to put out the fires.
Nevertheless, Environment Minister Sarwono Kusumaatmadja suggested government bodies should seek legal advice in case neighboring governments or individuals filed lawsuits over the effects of the haze.
So far other Asian nations have offered help to end the disaster.
The first of more than 1,200 firefighters from Malaysia arrived on Sumatra to help Indonesian troops extinguish the fires. Cloud-seeding planes tried to induce artificial rain.
Japan's ambassador has offered the services of experts.
Schools and airports in affected areas in several countries were closed down. Face masks have become standard street wear.
Cars in some smoke-saturated areas drive with their headlights on during daytime and residents stay indoors.
Health officials warned that small children and the elderly are most at risk.
Air quality improved marginally in Malaysia, but its Sarawak state on Borneo remained under a state of emergency for the fifth straight day because of hazardous pollutants.
Kuching, the state capital, has suffered the most since the haze worsened two weeks ago. The Air Pollutant Index Wednesday was 651, down from the record 839 on Tuesday, when residents said they could see only a few feet (meters).
The U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, the capital, said some 75 embassy staff and their dependents could leave if they felt the ill effects of smog.
The government said it was studying plans to spray water from the top of tall buildings to help dissolve the haze.
In the Philippines, authorities issued health warnings as haze reached Manila after blowing across large areas of the country's south.
``The assessment of the situation is not yet complete. But we must be cautious about possible health problems,'' said Frisco Nilo, chief forecaster at the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
In Indonesia's capital Jakarta, tall office buildings were obscured by haze. Meteorologists said the pollution contained some smoke but was mainly heavy traffic and factory emissions mixed with dust from nearby drought-stricken farmlands.
``It doesn't have the same terrible smell and effect as the smoke haze,'' said Emmy Hafild, the director of Walhi, an environmental lobby group.
``I wish the smoke would come to Jakarta. It might make people in power move faster to solve the problem,'' she said.
Airlines said they had canceled more than 20 flights in Indonesia because of the haze Wednesday.
In Irian Jaya province, the Indonesian-governed western half of New Guinea, officials said this week that at least 251 villagers have died of disease, possibly cholera, and hunger due to the drought.
Relief flights there have also been hampered by smoke.