Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, center, holds an assault rifle as he inspects the task force that will be deployed to help battling forest fires on Sumatra island, at Halim Perdanakusumah airbase in Jakarta, Indonesia, Tuesday, 25 June 2013. Yudhoyono apologized Monday to Singapore and Malaysia for record-setting pollution caused by forest fires on Sumatra island that have sent massive plumes of smog across the sea to the neighboring countries. Photo: Dita Alangkara / Associated Press

PEKANBARU, Indonesia, 25 June 2013 (Associated Press) — Indonesian authorities have arrested eight farmers for setting illegal fires on Sumatra island to clear land after numerous blazes created a thick haze choking parts of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, police said Tuesday. The farmers were arrested Monday and Tuesday after being caught “red-handed,” said local police spokesman Lt. Col. Hermansyah. He did not say whether they were employed by some companies that have been accused of deliberately starting the fires. About 1,100 residents were forced to flee Rantau Bais and Bangko Pusako villages in Riau province Tuesday as acrid smoke from nearby burning peat swamps and palm oil plantations made breathing difficult, Hermansyah said. “The smoke has hurt their throats and eyes,” said Hermansyah, who like many Indonesians uses one name. “Visibility there is really bad.” A day after apologizing to neighboring Singapore and Malaysia, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono deployed 2,000 additional personnel Tuesday to fight the fires that have affected air quality and caused respiratory problems among some people. He has called for an investigation, but said it appeared the fires were being caused by natural and human factors. Indonesia’s environmental minister, Balthasar Kambuaya, told reporters Sunday that authorities were investigating eight plantation companies that may have started the fires. Riau forestry official Ahmad Saeroji estimated the burned area was around 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres). Satellite pictures have detected about 200 fires on plantations in the area. [more]

8 arrested for allegedly setting forest fires in Indonesia; 1,000 flee choking haze on Sumatra