One killed as Indonesian firefighting helicopter crashes into river 

JAKARTA – A crew member of a helicopter battling Indonesian wildfires was killed on Sunday when the aircraft crashed into a river on Borneo Island.The crash in South Kalimantan province was the second in days involving a firefighting aircraft, after a military helicopter plunged into the waters off Borneo four days ago, killing three people.Two Australian pilots survived the crash on Nov. 8 and were “safe”, Berton Panjaitan, a spokesman for the national disaster mitigation agency, told AFP earlier. Further details of their condition were not immediately available.Investigations into the accident are ongoing, the agency said on Sunday, adding that it could continue its firefighting operations.For months, parts of Indonesia have been battling wildfires that have shrouded large swathes of Southeast Asia in toxic haze. The blazes in forests and peatlands are fuelled by a dry season that has been exacerbated by El Niño.Videos posted by Indonesia’s disaster authorities and circulating on social media show the helicopter hovering over the river with a helicopter bucket – a collapsible container typically used to douse water over fires – before it nosedives into the water.Other videos show rescuers later reaching the partially submerged helicopter by boat.The deceased crew member was named by Indonesian authorities as Yayan Supyansuri. The two men rescued were Michael John Betterridge, an Australian national, and Hugh Andrew John Page, a New Zealander, according to a statement from disaster authorities.The fallen chopper, a Super Puma H-225, was owned by a company that disaster authorities had contracted for the firefighting operations, a disaster official told AFP.Despite intensive firefighting efforts, the wildfires in Indonesia this year have been especially difficult to tame due to drought conditions exacerbated by a stronger El Niño.The raging wildfires sent toxic smog blanketing cities in Indonesia, turning the air amber and triggering a surge in respiratory illnesses in cities across the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra.The haze also drifted to neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, where it has triggered public health concerns.Foreign governments have sent assistance to help with firefighting efforts, including Australia, which has deployed aircraft and 20 personnel including pilots and paramedics.