- Title: Indonesia seeds clouds hoping for rain to douse forest fires
- Date: 18th September 2019
- Summary: PEKANBARU, RIAU PROVINCE, INDONESIA (SEPTEMBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BAGS CONTAINING CHEMICAL MATERIALS BEING LOADED INTO A HELICOPTER INDONESIAN AIR FORCE AIRCRAFT PREPARING TO TAKE OFF HEAD OF AIRPORT OPERATIONS, JAJANG SETIAWAN, ON THE PHONE WHILE STANDING AT THE TARMAC (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) HEAD OF AIRPORT OPERATIONS, JAJANG SETIAWAN, SAYING: "Knowing there is a potential of the cloud to rain, based on weather radar tracking that we have, now, there are some possible clouds that we can seed and produce rain with the blessings from the God. It (the cloud) is located in Bengkalis Siak. With the potential wind direction from southeast, we hope that it can produce rain in Teluk Meranti area where the hotspots (of fire) at the moment are." IN AIR OVER INDONESIA (SEPTEMBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL SEEDING CHEMICAL MATERIALS THROUGH A HOLE INSIDE THE AIRCRAFT PEKANBARU, RIAU PROVINCE, INDONESIA (SEPTEMBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) FORESTS COVERED WITH THICK SMOKES VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS EXTINGUISHING FIRES PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURE OF BUSHES BURNING BUSHES BURNING
- Embargoed: 2nd October 2019 12:10
- Keywords: Forest fire Indonesia Sumatra Borneo disaster cloud seeding
- Location: PEKANBARU, RIAU PROVINCE, INDONESIA
- City: PEKANBARU, RIAU PROVINCE, INDONESIA
- Country: Indonesia
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wildfires/Forest Fires
- Reuters ID: LVA001AX6NCCN
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Indonesian military poured bags of chemicals from an aircraft on Wednesday (September 18) to seed the clouds amid hopes of producing rain to douse raging forest fires which have been causing thick smog across the region.
Military officials said they had tracked wind direction around the fire hotspots and flew over the affected areas to pour chemicals into the clouds from the sky.
The smoke, or haze, has forced schools and airports to shut and tens of thousands of people are now suffering from respiratory problems.
Authorities say fire has scorched 328,000 hectares (810,000 acres) of land since January but it is not clear how much of that has been to make way for palm plantations.
(Production: Yuddy Chahya) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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