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Mount Kilimanjaro Fire Started Accidentally, 'ŻInvestigators Say

VOA News

   Hundreds of Tanzanian firefighters and citizens are trying to contain a
   fire on Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest mountain at 5,895 meters.

   The Citizen newspaper reports that National Park spokesman Pascal
   Shelutete said the initial investigation found the fire started Sunday
   by porters servicing climbers at the Whona rest area.

   Shelutete told reporters Tuesday the fire, used to warm up food,
   ignited dry grass and shrubs.

   The fire is confined to the Mandara and Horombo trails, Shelutete said,
   which are no higher than 2,700 meters above sea level.

   So far, there are no reports of casualties from the fire on the popular
   site, which attracts tens of thousands of climbers each year, many
   determined to reach the peak.

   Reuters reports more than two hundred university students from the
   College of African Wildlife Management, which is near the mountain, are
   providing food and water for firefighters trying to contain the blaze.

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