Tanzania has launched a man-hunt on the African peak Mount Kilimanjaro where an amateur Chinese climber went missing on his descent from the 5,895-meter peak mid last month, Tanzanian authorities said Wednesday.
The Kilimanjaro National Park authority has since organized three groups of rescuers to search for the missing Zhang Shaosheng, who came from Guangdong province of China. The park used its two light planes to join the search at one time.
Zhang, along with six other Chinese climbers, reached the summit around noon on July 17 via the popular Machame Route. After having taken pictures on the Uhuru peak, the Chinese climbers started their descent, during which Zhang went missing between the summit and the Barafu Camp, located at an altitude of 4,600 meters above sea level.
During their meeting Wednesday in Dar es Salaam, Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Liu Xinsheng and Zhang's wife Zeng Wei issued a joint request for those who have clues to the incident to step forward and inform the Chinese embassy or related institutions in Tanzania.
Zhang is in his early 40s and was wearing a bright-colored heavy jacket and a pair of glasses at the time of disappearance. He has black eyes and black hair. He had two digital cameras on him, one being a mini-automatic and the other being a Canon singlelens reflex.
Zhang's wife, in collaboration with the Chinese embassy in Dar es Salaam, has already handed out leaflets with colored pictures of her husband and basic descriptions of him. The leaflets are written in English and Kiswahili, which is Tanzania's official language.
Zeng requested those who have clues to finding her husband to step forward and provide the Chinese embassy or the Kilimanjaro National Park with the necessary information as soon as possible.
She also requested those climbers from both foreign countries and Tanzania who went up or down the same route on July 17 to recall whether they had met the lone Chinese climber and where and when.
She has even sent her request to Gen. Sarakikya who is now in Beijing as one of the invited guests by the International Olympic Committee to witness the 29th Olympiad. Gen. Sarakikya is best known for his numerous conquest of the Roof of Africa and is the first Tanzanian to plant his national flag on Mount Kilimanjaro after the country's independence.
Zeng promises a cash reward for key information that leads to the finding of her missing husband, alive or dead.
Such information can be sent to either chinaemb_tz@mfn.gov.cn or to fly9640622@hotmail.com.
