The wife of a ride-hailing driver who died in Palembang, South Sumatra, has told BBC Indonesia that she believes that the haze caused by forest and land fires may have contributed to his death.
Rika Yunita Sari said her husband Hardiansyah had suffered from asthma since birth and had repeatedly struggled to breathe during the haze season.
He always carried his asthma medication and wore a mask when riding his motorcycle, she added.
His asthma flared up after he woke up struggling to breathe last Friday, according to his wife.
Rika said she noticed her 41-year-old husband’s breathing was unusually irregular at around 7am and rushed him to Bari Hospital in Palembang.
“There was no time to give him medicine anymore. We panicked and went straight to the hospital,” she said. Heavy traffic delayed the journey, and Hardiansyah’s condition worsened on the way.
He was examined after arriving at the hospital but was pronounced dead at around 8:30am.
She believes smoke from the fires had become so severe on the day he died that it had seeped into their home. As the family’s sole breadwinner, Hardiansyah continued working despite the poor air quality.
“My husband was the backbone of the family,” Rika said.
