Singapore's air quality nears "very unhealthy" level amid haze from Indonesia wildfires

Singapore's air quality was approaching a "very unhealthy" range over the past 24 hours as haze from Indonesia's wildfires blanketed Southeast Asia, according to data from the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Saturday.

Landmarks were caught in dense haze in Singapore Saturday.

"You can clearly see that the visibility is really low, and this is affecting. For us as tourists, we, of course, want to picture with the full view of the city skyline. But more than that, it's just, again, what is going to happen to your body after being exposed to this, right? Didn't expect it to be like that. I do not have a habit of wearing a face mask, but I see that there are people wearing a face mask, so I probably should consider," said a tourist.

NEA on Saturday issued a warning that local air pollution may deteriorate in the coming days as wind keeps bringing haze from Indonesia.

A working group involving 28 government agencies has held a meeting to prepare a series of response measures.

The Singaporean government said that it is in constant communication with the Indonesian side on assistance in efforts to curb the haze.

Eight crew members were rescued Friday after a fire broke out on their fishing boat off the coast of Shanwei City, south China's Guangdong Province.

With strong winds fueling the flames and complicating rescue efforts at sea, coast guard officers en route to the scene coordinated remotely with nearby fishing boats, directing them to rush to the area and help evacuate the stranded crew.

All eight crew members had already been safely transferred to passing fishing boats without injury ahead of the rescuers' arrival.

Law enforcement officers assessed the fire, sea conditions, and the state of the burning boat before deploying onboard firefighting equipment. The blaze was subsequently brought under control and completely extinguished.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is currently underway.