KUCHING, Sept 19 ― A total of 809 schools in 17 districts in Sarawak were ordered to close today, an additional of eight districts compared to yesterday, due to haze.

The state Education Department in a statement said the move involved 104 secondary schools and 705 primary schools, affecting some 252,237 students.

In addition to Betong, Bau, Kuching, Lubok Antu, Padawan, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Lundu, and Kanowit as announced yesterday, the new districts involved with the closures today are Saratok, Simunjan, Kanowit, Maradong, Sibu, Sarikei, Julau, and Daro.

As of 6am, the five districts here recorded very unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings.

They are Kuching with API readings of 269, Samarahan (229), Sibu (231), Sarikei (221) and Sri Aman (207).

Five other districts recorded unhealthy API readings, namely, Bintulu (145), Mukah (190), Miri (114), ILP Miri (106) and Samalaju (127).

According to Sarawak Disaster Management Committee secretariat chief Major Ismail Mahedin, 17 hotspots were detected in the state including two in Betong, Sri Aman (2), Belaga (1), Julau (1), Marudi (5), Pakan (1), Song (2) ) and Tatau (3). ― Bernama