Indonesia is to scatter dry ice from aircraft over Sumatra to battle wildfire haze choking the region

Indonesia plans to send aircraft over Palembang, South Sumatra's provincial capital, to release 1.5 tonnes of dry ice pellets on Thursday, using a weather-modification technique that dates back to the 1940s. President Prabowo Subianto called the crisis a "top priority" this week after haze sparked a surge in respiratory illnesses domestically and triggered pollution emergencies in Malaysia and Singapore. The province, the hardest-hit in the country, has already been the target of more than 70 cloud-seeding operations.

Haze from Indonesia has crossed Malaysia's emergency-level pollution threshold, prompting authorities to declare a regional emergency in Sarawak state last month.

The disaster stems from the most intense El Niño-driven wildfire season Indonesia has experienced in 11 years, with the destruction of peatland held responsible for worsening the impact.

The dense orange haze has reached the Philippines, more than 800km away, closing schools across several Malaysian states and causing widespread flight disruptions across the region.