Fatimahtuzzuhra El-Karim and her family have abandoned their house in a residential area of Kampar regency, Riau, and fled to the city of Binjai in North Sumatra over concerns for their health, as hazardous smog from widespread forest fires is spreading uncontrollably.

The 26-year-old said she had been staying at her parents’ house in Binjai for the past three weeks together with her husband and their 1.5-year-old son.

“We have taken shelter at my parents’ house, because the smog was unbearable. We will only go back home once the air is clear,” she said on Tuesday.

Fatimah said this was the worst smog she had experienced over the past two years, or since they moved to the Puri Indah Kualu housing complex in Tambang district, located some 3 kilometers from one of the hot spots in the province. She said many of her neighbors had also left to stay with relatives in Medan or Padang in West Sumatra as the haze worsened.

She recalled that residents had been affected by the haze since July, but at that time, the haze was still thin and not too disturbing. However, as it turned into thick smog blanketing Kampar in August, residents opted to stay indoors to avoid exposure, before many eventually left the area for health reasons.

Another Riau resident, who lives in the provincial capital of Pekanbaru, Prayogi Werdi, 48, plans to leave for Medan to escape the smoke but has not yet gained permission from his employer.

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