Faith Nyasuguta
On Sunday, Tanzanian authorities said that a fire on Mount Kilimanjaro was mostly under control after flames burned the mountain in the nation for over 24 hours.
The blaze commenced on Friday evening near the Karanga site used by climbers ascending the famous peak, at about 4,000 metres altitude on its south side.
“We have seen great success in controlling the fire. To a large extent, it’s already extinguished in most areas although there are still smokes,” Eliamani Sedoyeka, an official at the natural resources and tourism ministry said.
Mount Kilimanjaro, situated in the north-east of the country, is Africa’s highest summit at 5,895 metres (19,340ft).
Officials are yet to establish the cause of the fire. The blaze comes two years after a fire raged for a week in October 2020 across 95 sq km (37 sq miles).
The fire commenced on Friday evening and was spread by strong winds during the night, according to regional officials. They could not yet say how much ground it covered.
A plane transporting local officials and leading members of the Tanzania National Parks Authority for a visit to evaluate the situation was unable to land on Saturday.
“Large clouds and the smoke prevented us from reaching the fire zone,” the prefect of Kilimanjaro, Nurdin Babu, told journalists. “We will try again when the situation improves.”
Videos posted on social media appeared to show the flames devouring vegetation and giving off thick clouds of grey smoke.
Via a statement, the park’s authority said three hundred people, including police, firefighters, university students and staff from tour operators, were working hard to bring the blaze under control.
The cause still remains unknown but Sedoyeka said that a climber or honey hunters may have started it “carelessly”.
Herman Batiho, an official at Tanzania’s national parks authority, indicated that he was “sure” human activity was to blame through illegal poaching or locals extracting honey.
Mount Kilimanjaro, with its snow-capped peak, is known across the globe. The forests surrounding it form part of Kilimanjaro National Parks, which is registered by Unesco as a world heritage site, a habitat for many endangered species.
