Helicopter crash on Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro kills five

The helicopter was on a ⁠medical rescue mission. Among ⁠the dead were a ‌guide, a doctor, ‌the pilot and two foreign tourists.

A helicopter crashed on Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro, killing five people, the ⁠civil aviation authority ‌said on Thursday, while local media reported that the aircraft was on a medical rescue mission.

Those ​killed were identified as a guide and a doctor - both Tanzanians - the Zimbabwean pilot ‌and ‌two tourists from the Czech Republic, the Tanzania National ⁠Parks said in a statement.

The helicopter crashed near the mountain's Barafu Camp on Wednesday, Tanzania's Civil ⁠Aviation Authority said in ‌a statement.

The Mwananchi newspaper ‌and East Africa TV, citing Kilimanjaro region's head of police, reported that ‍the helicopter was on a medical rescue mission.

Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, is nearly 6,000 metres (20,000 ft) above sea level. The crash happened between 4,670 and 4,700 metres, Mwananchi reported.

Around ​50,000 tourists ‌climb Kilimanjaro annually.