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northAfter the situation worsened on Mount Kilimanjaro, engulfed in flames and smoke, several international mountaineers attempted an emergency descent. “There is too much smoke here, we are afraid of carbon monoxide poisoning,” reported mountain guide Debbie Bachmann, who interrupted the ascent on Thursday with a group of Germans, Austrians and Swiss. In one photo there was a thick cloud of smoke blocking the way.
She had first received instructions from the national park authorities to take her group to safety at the Barafu camp, which is 4673 meters high, but was then sent to the 3700-meter high Horombo camp. “Those who tried to climb had to back down, there was no chance,” he reported. In the Horombo camp, some huts had caught fire, as a photo shows. The group of 10 mountaineers were taken down the mountain in an ambulance, Bachmann reported. By late Thursday night, they had almost reached the Marangu entrance to the national park.
28 square kilometers of heather destroyed
A camp with mountaineers from Switzerland and other countries had to be cleared Thursday night due to the approaching flames, as the organizers of the tour from the German press agency said. “In addition to my Swiss group, there were five or six other groups that had to dismantle their tents at midnight,” explained Henning Schmidt, the German mountain guide who has lived in the highest mountain range in Africa for 15 years. Mweka Camp is located on the treeline and is the last camp before leaving the mountain range when descending the various routes. Many mountain tourists reach it exhausted from the arduous descent.
A group of German, Swiss and Austrian mountaineers have set up their camp on Kilimanjaro at an altitude of about 4,000 meters.
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Image: dpa
Satellite images of the massif formed by the Mawenzi, Shira and Kibo craters showed a clear spread of the flames, which had also split. “The fire is spreading more and more,” Schmidt said. Especially in the southeast, smoke development increased again in the afternoon.
Tanzanian Tourism Minister Hamisi Kigwangalla said on Twitter: “We are still fighting the fire, the job is more difficult than we think; Strong winds and dry vegetation pose a challenge. “A helicopter has been in use since Thursday and they are trying to get more planes for firefighting work, according to an evening statement. However, the minister stressed that mountaineering in Kilimanjaro National Park “will continue as usual.”
According to industry information not officially confirmed, the national park authority considered removing all tourists still in the mountains. According to estimates from the local tourism industry, more than 100 local mountain guides, porters and tourists were still in the area. However, there was no official information.
The largest fire broke out on the southern flank of Kilimanjaro on Sunday for reasons unknown until now and has since destroyed at least 28 square kilometers of heather, according to official information. The height and the sometimes difficult access to the source of the fire make extinguishing work difficult. According to officially unconfirmed reports, buildings have now also been destroyed.
Kilimanjaro, nicknamed the “Roof of Africa”, is the highest mountain in Africa at 5895 meters and is also considered the tallest freestanding mountain in the world. In Tanzania, where elections will be held on October 28, mountain tourism is a major employer and source of foreign exchange.
