More planes promised to put out Kilimanjaro fire

Tanzania says more helicopters and planes will be deployed from Thursday to put out the fires on Mount Kilimanjaro, which have been raging for five days.

Efforts are mounting by the day to extinguish a fire that has broken out on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa.

Firefighters and volunteers are “struggling”, according to Tourism Minister Hamisi Kigwangalla, as efforts to extinguish the flames have not been completely successful.

Progress has been hampered by the presence of strong winds and acres of shrubs and dry grass.

 Mr Kigwangalla twitted that the task is bigger and harder than they thought

More than 500 volunteers have been up fighting the blaze on Africa’s tallest mountain.

Although the cause of the fires is unknown, the National Parks Authority said there were indications that it could have been caused by people who were cooking at a resting area on the mountain.

Members of the Tanzania National Parks Authority (Tanapa) and local people have been struggling to put out the blaze, which began on Sunday.

Their efforts have been hampered by the altitude as well as strong winds and dry weather which have caused the fire to spread fast.

The cause of the fire is not clear yet.

But there is speculation that the flames could have spread from a fire used to prepare food for tourists.