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Singapore team helping Indonesia fight haze-causing forest fires

Xinhua, October 10, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has deployed a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) Chinook helicopter and 34 SAF personnel to help fight the raging forest fires in Sumatra island of Indonesia.

The SAF team is accompanied by a six-man Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) from the Singapore Civil Defense Force, and a 5,000-liter heli-bucket, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Saturday.

Two RSAF C-130 aircraft were also deployed to transport the SAF and SCDF personnel, as well as their equipment, the ministry said.

The operation came after the Indonesian government accepted Singapore's offer to assist with putting out fires causing thick haze in the region.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen said Indonesian authorities gave clearance for the Singapore team on Friday night.

"This morning a Chinook and two C-130s took off ferrying men and equipment to fight the fires in Palembang (a city in Indonesia 's South Sumatra province). Our best wishes go with them and we hope that they will return safe and sound," Ng wrote.

At least 414 fire "hotspots" were detected in Sumatra on Friday, according to Indonesia's Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency. Endi