KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Air pollution in a town in Sarawak state on Borneo Island breached Malaysia’s emergency-level threshold on Friday amid worsening haze linked to forest and land fires in neighboring Indonesia.
The Air Pollutant Index in Serian, a small agricultural town of just under 90,000 near the border of Indonesia's Kalimantan province, surged to 521 on Friday, according to Malaysia's environment department. Sarawak's much-larger capital, Kuching, also showed a hazardous reading of 311.
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Kuching riverside in the city center is shrouded in thick haze in Kuching, Sarawak state, Malaysia, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Xpin Voon)
Sarawak Astana government building is shrouded in thick haze in Kuching, Sarawak state, Malaysia, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Xpin Voon)
The Sarawak Government Administrative Centre in Serian is shrouded in thick haze on Friday, Sept 4, 2026. (AP Photo)
Kuching riverside in the city center is shrouded in thick haze in Kuching, Sarawak state, Malaysia, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Xpin Voon)
Kuching riverside in the city center is shrouded in thick haze in Kuching, Sarawak state, Malaysia, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Xpin Voon)
Haze is a recurring seasonal problem in Southeast Asia, where smoke from forest and peat fires in Indonesia can travel across national borders and affect neighboring Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore.
Officials have said a reading above 500 could trigger a haze emergency declaration in the affected area that would provide for nonessential work and outdoor activities to be halted. Schools are already shut if the index is above 200. There was no immediate declaration from authorities regarding Serian.
Sarawak has been the worst-hit Malaysian state by the haze, with several areas having hazardous air levels in the past few days.
The haze this year has been particularly severe, with elevated fire activity in several provinces in Indonesia, including Kalimantan, and prolonged dry conditions contributing to worsening pollution across parts of Borneo.
Satellite data from Indonesia's Forestry Ministry on Friday detected 717 hot spots nationwide likely caused by forest fires since Aug. 1. The data showed 103 active hot spots in the past 24 hours alone.
Indonesian authorities have deployed firefighting resources and attempted to induce rain.
Indonesia has also stepped up enforcement against fires in Kalimantan, suspending the business licenses of five companies over alleged forest and land fires within their concessions in the province.
Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni has said the sanctions could go beyond license suspensions. Companies that fail to meet restoration obligations, or are found to have committed criminal offenses, could face prosecution.
Kuching riverside in the city center is shrouded in thick haze in Kuching, Sarawak state, Malaysia, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Xpin Voon)
Sarawak Astana government building is shrouded in thick haze in Kuching, Sarawak state, Malaysia, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Xpin Voon)
The Sarawak Government Administrative Centre in Serian is shrouded in thick haze on Friday, Sept 4, 2026. (AP Photo)
Kuching riverside in the city center is shrouded in thick haze in Kuching, Sarawak state, Malaysia, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Xpin Voon)
Kuching riverside in the city center is shrouded in thick haze in Kuching, Sarawak state, Malaysia, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Xpin Voon)
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Rescuers in Nepal pulled two workers alive from a tunnel at a hydropower plant Friday, raising hopes of reaching dozens of others believed to be trapped nine days after deadly floods swept away villages and submerged the Himalayan region in mud and debris.
Search teams first heard voices from inside the tunnel in the morning, allowing them to locate the two men, Nepalese lawmaker Shri Ram Neupane said. Images showed a rescuer carrying one of the workers, covered in mud, on his back, while soldiers on either side helped.
One of those rescued said more people are alive inside the tunnel, according to army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Raja Ram Basnet, and the search is ongoing.
“I can’t explain what we are feeling at the moment. We are just grateful to god,” Amir Maharjan, the brother of one of those rescued, told The Associated Press.
Basnet confirmed the first trapped worker’s rescue, and Neupane posted about the second on his Facebook page shortly after.
Both men were flown to a hospital in Kathmandu, and Maharjan said his family was on its way there. One of the survivors was in critical condition, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
Officials identified the men as a mechanical foreman and a mechanical supervisor. They were rescued from a tunnel at the Trishuli 3A plant.
About 900 workers are missing from 12 hydropower projects in Nepal, with roughly 500 believed to be trapped in tunnels, according to authorities.
About 115 are believed trapped in the tunnel at Trishuli 3A alone, according to the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal.
Nepal’s Communication Minister Bikram Timilsina wrote on his Facebook page that officials “are waiting for the rescue of more and more people.”
At least 1,287 people were killed in the Aug. 26 floods, likely caused by a glacier collapse, and more than 5,000 remain missing, according to the country’s disaster management agency. China said late Wednesday that 21 people were killed and 541 were missing on the Tibet side of the border.
Nepal’s disaster agency estimated Friday that flooding caused at least 387.5 billion Nepalese rupees ($2.5 billion) in damage to infrastructure and property.
This story has been updated to correct the characterization of the number of workers believed trapped in the tunnel at Trishuli 3A to dozens, not a dozen.
Saaliq reported from New Delhi.
Residents pull a newly installed zipline to help people commute across the Trishuli river in the aftermath of flash floods at Bidur in Nepal's Nuwakot district, Nepal, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
People affected by recent flash floods stand in line to receive aid at a school converted into a temporary shelter in Nepal’s Nuwakot district, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
In this photo provided by the Nepal Army, soldiers rescue a worker alive from a tunnel during an ongoing operation at the Trishuli-3A hydropower project in Nepal's Rasuwa district, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (Nepal Army via AP)
In this photo provided by the Nepal Army, soldiers rescue a worker alive from a tunnel during an ongoing operation at the Trishuli-3A hydropower project in Nepal's Rasuwa district, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (Nepal Army via AP)
In this photo provided by the Nepal Army, soldiers rescue a worker alive from a tunnel during an ongoing operation at the Trishuli-3A hydropower project in Nepal's Rasuwa district, Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (Nepal Army via AP)
A drone view shows rescue workers inspecting damaged structures amid sludge, debris and landslides in the aftermath of flash flooding along the Trishuli River in the Devighat area of Nepal's Nuwakot district, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
A drone view shows houses damaged by flash floods surrounded by sludge, mud and debris along the swollen Trishuli River in Devighat, Nepal, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
