印尼军方周三表示，一架执行灭火任务、载有八人的印尼军用直升机在婆罗洲岛附近海域坠毁，造成一名机组人员死亡。
An Indonesian military helicopter carrying eight people on a firefighting mission crashed in waters off Borneo island on Wednesday, killing a crew member, the army said.
这个东南亚群岛国家数月来一直努力控制野火，火灾已烧毁苏门答腊岛、婆罗洲岛和巴布亚岛的大片地区，导致浓烟飘向邻国马来西亚、东帝汶和新加坡。
The Southeast Asian archipelago has for months been struggling to control wildfires that have burned through large swathes of Sumatra, Borneo and Papua islands, causing choking haze that drifted to neighbouring Malaysia, East Timor and Singapore.
印尼军方的一份声明称，该直升机周三早上从婆罗洲中加里曼丹省瑟鲁扬区起飞，前往坦久普汀国家公园灭火。该公园栖息着包括极度濒危的婆罗洲猩猩在内的动物。声明称：“事故发生在直升机舀取海水进行水弹灭火时。”
The helicopter took off on Wednesday morning from Seruyan district in Borneo’s Central Kalimantan province to fight fires in the Tanjung Puting National Park, an army statement said. The park is home to animals including critically endangered Bornean orangutans. “The accident occurred while the helicopter was scooping seawater for water-bombing,” the statement said.
声明还说：“事故原因仍在调查中。”印尼军方表示，一名机组人员死亡，另外五人获救生还。声明未提供其余两名机组人员状况的任何细节。
“The cause of the incident is still under investigation.”One crew member was killed while five others were rescued alive, the army said. The statement did not provide any details about the condition of the two remaining crew members.
除地面消防人员外，印尼还严重依赖空中行动扑灭火灾。据森林砍伐监测机构努桑塔拉地图（Nusantara Atlas）称，截至今年9月的九个月内，火灾已烧毁超过190万公顷（470万英亩）。政府尚未确认或否认这一数字。
Aside from ground-based firefighters, Indonesia has also relied heavily on air operations to put out fires that have razed more than 1.9 million hectares (4.7 million acres) in the nine months to September this year, according to deforestation monitor Nusantara Atlas. The government has not confirmed or rejected the number.
火灾部分由强烈的厄尔尼诺天气现象驱动，该现象在印尼通常会导致干旱。
The fires are driven in part by a strong El Nino weather phenomenon, which in Indonesia typically causes drought.
专家表示，森林砍伐、泥炭地排水以及木材、棕榈油或采矿公司非法的刀耕火种清理土地，是造成破坏的根源。
Experts say deforestation, peatland drainage and illegal slash-and-burn land clearing by timber, palm oil or mining companies are at the root of the destruction.
据赫尔辛基能源与清洁空气研究中心（Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air）称，火灾造成的污染仅在9月就导致估计3560人死亡，而当月约有5780万人在全国范围内吸入了不健康到有害的空气。
Pollution from the blazes caused an estimated 3,560 deaths in September alone, while about 57.8 million people across the country inhaled unhealthy to hazardous air that month, according to the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
印度尼西亚卫生部周三表示，超过40万人因有毒烟雾引发的急性呼吸道疾病接受了治疗。
More than 400,000 people in Indonesia have been treated for acute respiratory ailments caused by the toxic haze, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
政府周三为其应对火灾的做法辩护，在一份声明中表示，已有超过7.2万人投入人工影响天气和灭火行动，在受灾严重地区启动了超过2100名医生和卫生工作者，并分发了530万只口罩。
The government on Wednesday defended its approach to the fires, saying in a statement more than 72,000 people had been deployed in cloud-seeding and firefighting operations, more than 2,100 doctors and health workers activated in hard-hit areas, and 5.3 million masks distributed.