Disasters
Fires
Kyautaw fire destroys 45 shops, cripples business
Some K50 million worth of business assets went up in flames when a fire broke out at a row of shops selling fuel in Rakhine on March 15. The fire started at one of the fuel shops at the entrance of Kyauktaw at about 6.30pm and ...
Haze problem worsens in North as many provinces hit by wildfires
Many provinces were affected by wildfires yesterday, causing the acute haze problem to intensify, while the Disease Control Department warned vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the infirm to stay indoors and wear face masks. The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said that due to ...
69m people breathed toxic smoke from 2015 Indonesian fires: study
Sixty-nine million people were exposed to toxic haze as a result of last year’s devastating wildfires in Indonesia, a new study has found. Little is known about the health impacts of Indonesia’s annual fires, which spread uncontrollably because the country’s vast peat swamp zones have ...
Officials investigate fires in different regions
The cause of the fire, which spread from Ok mountain in Tambon Mae Nam to Phra mountain in Tambon Bor Phud of Surat Thani province, was suspected to be forest burning, which got out of control in the dry and hot weather. Up North, a Chiang ...
Fires burn large parts of Battambang forest
Fires have consumed more than 2,000 hectares of Prek Toal protected area in Cambodia’s Battambang province, killing some animals and destroying the breeding sites of multiple endangered species, Prek Toal project managers said on 5 May.Keep reading ...
Fire at Arakan state IDP camp leaves hundreds homeless
A fire near Arakan State’s Sittwe Township left hundreds of Rohingya Muslims homeless as it swept through dozens of shelters at the Baw Du Ba internally displaced person camp on 3 May, local sources said. “A total of 392 families stayed in the 49 longhouses. We ...
Forest wildfires ring Mae Hong Son township
Forest fires were still burning high on mountains ringing Thailand’s provincial capital Mae Hong Son on 22 March, with firefighters struggling to reach hot spots in very difficult terrain. Keep reading ...
Forest fire detonates UXOs at Preah Vihear
A forest fire near the Preah Vihear temple complex in Cambodia caused decades-old landmines and other unexploded ordnance to explode on 20 March, according to regional military commander Duong Sam Neang. Keep reading ...
Preah Vihear blaze razes timber
A blaze authorities have attributed to a forest fire ripped through a nearly 4,000-cubic-metre timber stockpile on a social land concession in Preah Vihear’s Kulen district on the weekend, although the company yesterday said it suspected a case of arson. Si Kiri, Preah Vihear provincial police ...
Rise in number of blazes in ’15
The number of fires in Cambodia increased by 14.7 per cent in 2015 compared to the previous year, killing 35 people and consuming almost 600 homes. Electrical malfunctions were the leading cause of fires, accounting for 47 per cent of all fire incidents, with carelessness the ...