Students evacuated due to haze

Back home: Some of the Malaysian students from Pekan Baru, Indonesia arriving at the TUDM airport in Subang. — AZHAR MAHFOF / The Star

SHAH ALAM: A total of 221 Malaysian students were evacuated from Pekan Baru, Indonesia, in view of the continuing haze.

The first batch of 120 students from the State Islamic University of Sultan Syarif Kasim and Pondok Pasentren Al Baidha arrived yesterday, three days after they were taken out of their learning institutions.

Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican said the Government decided to evacuate the students when the Air Pollutant Index touched 980 on Monday.

“It is a normal evacuation process under such circumstances.

“We are glad that it went smoothly and the Indonesian government was very cooperative,” he said after receiving the students at the Royal Malaysian Air Force airbase.

He added that there was no serious illness reported among the students.

Another batch of students arrived at midnight.