Death toll from Indonesian water-bombing helicopter crash rises to two

The death toll rose to two in the crash Wednesday of an Indonesian military helicopter on a firefighting mission in waters off Borneo island, the army said.

The Southeast Asian archipelago has for months been struggling to control wildfires that have burned through large swathes of Sumatra, Borneo and Papua islands, causing choking haze that drifted to neighbouring Malaysia, East Timor and Singapore.

The helicopter, which carried eight people, took off on Wednesday morning from Seruyan district in Borneo's Central Kalimantan province to fight fires in the Tanjung Puting National Park, an army statement said.

The park is home to animals including critically endangered Bornean orangutans.

"Until now, two crew members were found dead... five other crew members were rescued," the statement said. "The Indonesian Army continues its efforts to search for and evacuate one crew member who has yet to be found." 

The incident occurred while the aircraft was scooping seawater for water-bombing, the statement said, adding that the cause of the accident was still under investigation.

Indonesia's Transportation Ministry in a statement Wednesday gave a higher death toll of three, saying one victim had been transferred to a hospital and two others were still being evacuated. The reason for the discrepancy wasn't immediately clear.

Aside from ground-based firefighters, Indonesia has also relied heavily on air operations to put out fires that have destroyed more than 1.9 million hectares, according to deforestation monitor Nusantara Atlas.

The fires are driven in part by a strong El Nino weather phenomenon, which in Indonesia typically causes drought.

Experts say deforestation and peatland drainage is at the root of the destruction.

Pollution from smoke emitted by this year's blazes caused an estimated 3,560 deaths in Indonesia in September alone, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Helsinki-based think tank.

More than 400,000 people in Indonesia have been treated for acute respiratory ailments caused by the toxic haze, the health ministry said Wednesday.