DILI, Oct 15 — East Timor began a three-day school closure today prompted by thick haze that has drifted over from raging forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia.

In the capital Dili, people were out as normal under a yellow-tinged sky, but most were wearing masks, as the government advised a day earlier in announcing the school closures.

Residents welcomed the decision, although they said the pollution had been even worse earlier in the week.

“Recently, the pollution in Dili has been very severe,” 30-year-old midwife Sonya da Costa Soares told AFP.