Thousands Celebrate Eid al-Adha Amid Choking Haze in Palembang

TEMPO.CO, Palembang - Thousands of Muhammadiyah followers in Palembang celebrated Eid al-Adha by praying en masse amit the thick haze that has choked the city for around two months - congregating in mosques, prayer rooms, and fields across the capital.

As per Wednesday morning, September 24, 2015, the haze originating from field and forest fires in the capital continues to choke the provincial capital of South Sumatra. The Head of Public Information for Palembang's Meteorology, Geophysics, and Climatology Agency (BMKG) at Sultan Mahmud Badaruddin II Airport, Agus Santosa, said that more hotspots have been detected across the province on Wednesday compared to Tuesday's figures. "There is a substantial increase in the number of hotspots detected," he said.

According to satellite imagery from Aqua and Terra satellites, as per 07:00 local time, there were 1,009 hotspots - a jump from 60 hotspots detected in Ogan Komering Ilir Regency on Tuesday.

According to the images, the distribution of hotspots on Wednesday is almost spread evenly across the province - with new hotspots detected in Ogan Komering Ulu Timur, Empat Lawang, Lahat, Ogan Ilir, Musi Rawas, Penukal Abab Lematang Ilir, and Ogan Komering Ulu Selatan. Agus added that Ogan Komering Ilir and Musi Banyuasin accounted for the highest concentration of hotspots with 522 and 333 spots detected, respectively.

Despite the choking haze, Muhammadiyah followers in Palembang continued to flock and congregate in areas where a mass prayer is being held. "Muhammadiyah followers are not deterred by the bad air quality - in fact, almost all services that we scheduled to run today were packed full to the brim," said the former Head of Muhammadiyah's Palembang chapter, Nofrizal Nawawi.

PARLIZA HENDRAWAN