Al Jazeera :
More than 350 schools in Bangkok have been forced to close due to air pollution, authorities in Thailand’s capital have said.
The Thai capital has been struggling with hazardous air quality since midweek, when city authorities gave schools permission to close and advised people to work from home after the air quality index (AQI) hit 159, according to IQAir, a partner of the United Nations Environment Programme.
Six-wheel trucks have also been restricted from entering parts of the city.
An AQI reading above 100 is considered unhealthy, while a reading above 200 is rated very unhealthy.
On Friday morning, when authorities announced the closure of about 100 additional schools, the AQI stood at 185.
As of 11am local time, Bangkok ranked as the eighth-most polluted city in the world, behind Dhaka, Lahore, Kathmandu, Karachi, Delhi, Mumbai and Ho Chi Minh City, according to IQAir.
While hundreds of schools remain closed, only about 100,000 of Bangkok’s more than 10 million residents have signed up for a voluntary work-from-home scheme, according to the AFP news agency.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said the rise in pollution was the result of the seasonal burning of crops, vehicle emissions and the burning of rubbish.
