State of emergency declared around landfill area in West Java

Health hazard: Firefighters trying to extinguish the blaze at the landfill in Sarimukti on the outskirts of Bandung, West Java. — AFP

A days-long fire at a landfill in Indonesia’s most populous province has been declared an emergency by local authorities as thick and putrid smoke from the blaze chokes nearby residents, officials said.

The fire at the Sarimukti landfill in Indonesia’s West Java province – which serves the city of Bandung, home to 2.5 million people – has been burning since Tuesday.