The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) says 90 percent of the forest and peatland fires in Riau province have been extinguished.

"This morning we received no reports of new forest fires. [It should be remembered that] hotspots do not only take the form of fires. They can also be found underground," BNPB chief Syamsul Maarif said in Padang, West Sumatra, on Tuesday evening as quoted by Antara news agency.

Syamsul said a number of fires were still burning in Siak regency, where peat thickness reached five meters deep.

More hotspots could still be found beneath the peatland, he said.

Efforts to fight the fires were continuing by creating cloud seeds to induce rain and by dropping water from planes, he said.

The BNPB had used 40 tons of salt to create cloud seeds and had dropped water from the air on 1,312 occasions.

Firefighting efforts will be taken forward in two stages. The first stage will last until mid-April with the deployment of some 2,000 military personnel. The agency will increase the number of personnel from mid-April to September. (***)

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