LOCALS have been left with "burning eyes and throats" after the sky turned BLOOD RED over an Indonesian province.
Widespread forest fires have plagued huge parts of the country – leaving a bizarre red haze looming with locals likening the atmosphere to the planet Mars.
Eka Wulandari, a resident in Jambi province who captured the pictures of the sky, said the haze "hurt her eyes and throat."
The 21-year-old posted the eerie photos on Facebook, saying that the haze conditions had been especially thick on Saturday.
Another Twitter user posted a video showing similarly coloured skies with the tag line "This is not Mars."
The tweet by Zuni Shofi Yatun Nisa said: "This is not Mars. This is Jambi.
"We humans need clean air, not smoke."
Every year, fires in Indonesia create a smoky haze that can end up blanketing the entire South-East Asian region.
The coloured mist is said to be caused by a phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering.
BLOOD RED SKY
Indonesia meteorological agency BMKG said satellite imagery revealed numerous hot spots and "thick smoke distribution" in the area around the Jambi region.
Professor Koh Tieh Yong, of the Singapore University of Social Sciences, explained that the Rayleigh scattering has to do with certain types of particles that are present during a period of haze.
He also said that the fact the photos and videos were taken around noon could have caused the sky to look more red.
He said: "If the sun is overhead and you look up, [you will be looking] in the line of the sun, so it would appear that more of the sky is red."
Prof Koh added that this phenomenon would not "modify the air temperature".
This year's haze levels have been some of the worst in years – and according to Indonesia's national disaster agency, some 328,724 hectares of land had already been burnt in the first eight months of the year.
Part of the blame for the haze lies with big corporations and small-scale farmers, who use the illegal slash-and-burn method.
This slash-and-burn technique employed by many in the region is arguably the easiest way for farmers to clear their land by burning them down.
However, these fires often spin out of control and spread into protected forested areas.
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