El Niño fuels Indonesia wildfires, destroying nearly 300 homes in Sumatra

Wildfires fuelled by El Niño have destroyed nearly 300 homes on Indonesia's Sumatra island, forcing almost 1,000 residents to evacuate.

The blaze reached a village in Bangka Belitung province after residents initially believed they had extinguished the flames using portable water pumps.

South Bangka official Riza Herdavid said the fire continued burning underground in peatland before strong winds pushed it towards nearby homes.

“They thought it was taken care of. But it’s peatland, and there was still a fire smouldering underneath,” he said to The Guardian.

Indonesia regularly experiences forest fires during its dry season, but officials say this year's blazes have intensified because of El Niño.

The fires have caused severe haze, tens of thousands of respiratory illness cases and worsening air pollution in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia.

Thick smoke has also disrupted firefighting operations in parts of Borneo.

President Prabowo Subianto has ordered an intensified response to the fires, with more than 60,000 personnel deployed to tackle the crisis.