KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Malaysia choked on its worst pollution crisis in eight years on Wednesday, as forest fires from neighbouring Indonesia smothered the capital in thick smoke, forcing schools, an airport and a port operator to shut down. Asthma attacks soared and tourists huddled in air-conditioned shopping malls at one of the busiest times for the country's tourism industry, prompting the government to consider emergency measures and to offer its neighbour help in fighting the fires.
"The situation is not getting better, it is getting worse," Environment Minister Adenan Satem told a news conference. Adenan said after a cabinet meeting that discussed ways to clear the haze that he and the commodities minister would travel to the Indonesian capital Jakarta as soon as possible to offer Malaysia's help in response to a plea Indonesia made to ASEAN nations. The government would declare an emergency if the pollution index hit 500, a level considered hazardous, he said. Kuala Lumpur registered 181 on Wednesday, with Putrajaya, the administrative capital, at 224, and Port Klang at 410.
Malaysia is starting to publish daily pollution measurements, reversing a 1997 decision to keep the figures secret. The API numbers have been kept secret in the past for fear of hurting the tourism industry. Former premier Mahathir Mohamad, whose administration kept the data secret, wore a face mask against the smog at a public function on Wednesday.
In the capital, wisps of smog swirled around the gleaming Petronas Towers, occasionally hiding the iconic structures from people in the streets below, many of whom wore masks or held up handkerchiefs to block out the worst of the acrid smoke.
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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KLR140817.htm
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