The 26th Southeast Asia Games in one of Indonesian city hosts, Palembang of South Sumatra province, is overshadowed by forest fires, the Jakarta Post reported on Saturday.

Forest fires continued to spread in South Sumatra on Friday, while nearly 900 hot spots were reported in several regencies in the province.

South Sumatra disaster mitigation agency head Yulizar Dinoto said that the fires had been raging not only in forests but in productive areas.

The Palembang office of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said it was intensively monitoring the condition, which has caused concern that the haze could disturb Palembang's hosting of the SEA Games in November.

Governor Alex Noerdin said authorities might turn to artificial rain to dampen the haze.

"Haze could create a negative image and perception among participants of the SEA Games," Alex said, adding that efforts to extinguish the fires were ongoing, and included helicopters dropping water bombs.

The SEA Games in the capital city of Jakarta and Palembang will feature athletes from 11 countries and regions in Southeast Asia.

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