Russian rescuers ready to start fighting Indonesia fires - ministry

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Russian rescuers are prepared to start fulfilling the tasks of extinguishing wildfires on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Earlier on Wednesday, Russia’s rescue team on board two Beriev Be-200 amphibian aircraft arrived in Palembang, the center of the South Sumatra province, at the request of Indonesia’s government to join the operation. "The situation in these regions is considered as critical due to thick smoke," the ministry said. "Russia’s specialists are ready to swiftly join the effort to implement tasks on extinguishing the fire outbreaks in coordination with local emergency response services," it said. Indonesia has launched a major effort on fighting wildfires in the country’s history. The operation also involves the planes of Singapore. The aircraft of Malaysia and Australia flew back home on Monday after completing five days of the firefighting effort. The fires on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan have generated huge amounts of smoke affecting the territory of Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Read more