Indonesia, a vast archipelago, has for weeks battled wildfires that have led to school closures and thousands of people requiring medical treatment, with smoke also reaching neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.The health ministry said 3.4 million people living in seven provinces on Borneo and Sumatra were at risk of respiratory infections due to exposure.In Pekanbaru, the capital of Sumatra's Riau province, thick smog forced the government to shutter dozens of schools as it urged residents to stay indoors."The smog gets thicker at night, making Pekanbaru almost like a dead city. A lot of people don't dare go out. And if they do, they wear masks," Abdullah, a 38-year-old entrepreneur, told AFP."My eyes sting so badly. When I go outside, it really feels like breathing in the smoke from freshly burned trash," added the Pekanbaru resident who, like many Indonesians, has one name.In Jambi, also on Sumatra, 31-year-old homemaker Farida said the haze had already affected her family's health."My four-year-old child and I have begun coughing so much, especially when we stay outdoors too long," she told AFP. "I have trouble breathing."The Jambi local government has ordered home schooling for children in kindergarten and elementary school for the remainder of the week.