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Haze assistance to Indonesia deployed

SINGAPORE — After a delay in the haze assistance yesterday, a Chinook helicopter and 34 Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel were deployed at around 12.30pm today (Oct 10) to help fight the ongoing forest fires in Sumatra, Indonesia.

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SINGAPORE — After a delay in the haze assistance yesterday, a Chinook helicopter and 34 Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) personnel were deployed at around 12.30pm today (Oct 10) to help fight the ongoing forest fires in Sumatra, Indonesia, said the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) in a media statement.

They were accompanied by a six-man Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and a 5,000-litre heli-bucket. 

Two RSAF C-130 aircraft were also deployed to transport the SAF and SCDF personnel and their equipment. 

Chief of Air Force Major-General Hoo Cher Mou was at Sembawang Air Base to send off the personnel from the SAF and SCDF.

Singapore earlier received clearance from the Indonesian authorities “due to deteriorating visibility” there, said the MINDEF yesterday.

“Our best wishes go with them and we hope that they will return safe and sound,” said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen today in a Facebook post. 

On Thursday, Indonesia had asked for help from Singapore, Russia, Malaysia and Japan to put out forest fires that have caused choking smoke to drift across South-east Asia — the first time such a large-scale international operation will take place in the region to combat the yearly problem.

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