Tanzania battling to extinguish fire on Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro

• Firefighters in Tanzania are battling a blaze on Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro.
• Witnesses report massive flames and plumes of smoke on the mountain’s slopes.
• It’s unclear how the fire started or how much forest was destroyed. There have been no reported casualties.

Firefighters in Tanzania are battling a blaze on Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, according to local officials.

The fire started on Friday night along one of the most popular climbing routes on the mountain.

Witnesses in the area reported seeing massive flames and plumes of smoke on the slopes.

It’s unclear how the fire started or how much forest was destroyed. There have been no reported casualties.

The fire comes two years after a week-long blaze on Mount Kilimanjaro’s slopes destroyed thousands of hectares of forest.

On Saturday, social media videos showed large flames and a blanket of smoke engulfing parts of the forest surrounding the mountain.

Efforts are continuing in #Tanzania to extinguish a fire that has broken out in Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. The source of the fire is yet to be disclosed. pic.twitter.com/0AYWMnVyIx

— Charles Kombe (@RealKombe) October 22, 2022

According to the AFP news agency, the regional police chief could not yet say how large the fire was.

However, a plane sent to the scene of the fire was unable to land due to massive clouds and thick smoke, according to Kilimanjaro regional head Nurdin Babu.

According to the Tanzania National Parks Authority, more than 300 people were dispatched to the scene to assist in putting out the fire (Tanapa). It said that in addition to emergency personnel such as firefighters and police, wildlife park rangers and tourism company employees were helping to put out the fire.

Mount Kilimanjaro, which stands 5,895 metres (19,341 feet) tall, is a popular tourist destination, with tens of thousands of people climbing it each year.

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