Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Fire Hazard: Children Struggle to Breathe as Smoke Chokes Amazon City

Reuters

   PORTO VELHO, BRAZIL - When Maria Augusta Almeida, 45, heard her
   grandson cough incessantly, she knew what was to blame: the fires
   raging in the Amazon forest, some of them more than 200 miles (322 km)
   away from Porto Velho.

   The smoke permeating the city, the capital of Brazil's northwestern
   state of Rondonia, is leading concerned parents to wait for hours in
   line at local hospitals to get help for their children who are
   struggling to breathe.

   The Thomson Reuters Foundation visited four health centers in the city,
   one of the hardest hit by smoke from the burning rainforest. In all,
   there were reports of children, some of them infants, seeking medical
   care due to smoke inhalation.

.