Principal chronicles Indonesia’s worst wildfires in years

Indonesia is battling its worst wildfires in more than a decade, made worse by El Nino weather patterns.

Many of these fires were deliberately set to clear land for farming, including palm oil plantations. More than 12,000 schools across Indonesia have closed because of the toxic haze, which has also spread to neighboring countries.

Rain this week brought some relief, but the rainy season isn’t expected until next month.

In Central Kalimantan, where children have been out of class for weeks, school principal and photographer Natanael Undas has been documenting the fires on social media. He spoke to News Hour from an empty classroom at the Golden Christian Middle School.

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