A fireplace rages on the slopes of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

Greater than 300 individuals have been deployed to place out a raging hearth on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak in northeastern Tanzania, native authorities mentioned on Saturday.

The hearth, whose origin isn’t but recognized, is raging close to the Karanga camp, a stopover for mountaineers situated at an altitude of round 4000 meters on the southern slope of the “roof of Africa” ​​(5895 meters). This fireplace comes precisely two years after a fireplace which had ravaged, for per week in October 2020, 95 km2 of slopes, with out inflicting any casualties. The regional authorities indicated originally of the afternoon that it didn’t threaten the vacationers current on this mountain, extremely popular with lovers of trekking and mountaineering.

A fireplace fanned by a powerful wind

The precise extent of the fireplace, which broke out on Friday night and was fanned by the sturdy wind that blew by way of the world in a single day, remained undetermined late Saturday afternoon, in accordance with regional authorities.

A aircraft carrying native officers and officers from the Nationwide Parks Company (Tanapa) to evaluate the scenario was unable to entry the positioning on Saturday afternoon. “Massive clouds and smoke prevented us from reaching the burning space,” Kilimanjaro area prefect Nurdin Babu instructed reporters. “We are going to strive once more when the scenario is a bit higher,” he added.

“We can’t touch upon the extent of the fireplace at the moment as a result of consideration is concentrated on controlling the fireplace,” regional police chief Yahaya Mdogo mentioned within the early afternoon. “We’ve no data relating to the impression on the inhabitants, aside from the truth that the (vegetation of) brushwood is burning,” he added. Movies circulating on social media confirmed the flames devouring vegetation, releasing thick plumes of grey smoke.

Learn additionally: Fireplace causes ‘irreparable’ harm to statues on Easter Island

Greater than 300 individuals, together with native residents, had been mobilized to stop the fireplace from spreading, detailed Yahaya Mdogo. “Personnel from Tanapa, the police, firefighters, college students from the (village) Mweka Wildlife College and workers from the tour operator Zara Excursions are working onerous to regulate the fireplace,” the official mentioned. facet the Tanapa in a quick press launch.

iconic mountain

Kilimanjaro, an emblematic mountain whose snow-capped peak is understood all through the world, and the world surrounding it are categorized as a nationwide park, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Website. With a complete space of ​​greater than 75,000 hectares (greater than 750 km2), the park is house to a outstanding ecosystem, together with a fauna composed of elephants, buffaloes, antelopes…

This volcanic massif made up of three peaks (Kibo, Mawenzi, Shira) isn’t resistant to world warming, which notably dries out its vegetation, successively made up of plains, mountain forest then excessive moorland, earlier than an alpine desert and the Mountain peak.

Additionally learn: In 2022, Swiss glaciers have melted like by no means earlier than

The “snows of Kilimanjaro” celebrated by Ernest Hemingway might even disappear by 2040, in accordance with a 2011 report by the World Meteorological Group, the UN’s climate company, on Africa’s local weather scenario. The world lined by glaciers has shrunk by 85% in a century, from 11.40 km2 in 1912 to 1.76 km2 in 2011.