A B.C. man has died while paragliding off the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.
In a tweet, Tanzania Parks identified the victim as 51-year-old Canadian Justin Kyllo. Global Affairs Canada also confirmed the death of a Canadian in Tanzania, where Africa's tallest mountain is located, though they did not disclose the man's identity.
CTV News Vancouver has learned that Kyllo was the owner of North Vancouver barbecue restaurant and catering company Smoke and Bones.
Posts on social media indicate he was in Tanzania with the charitable organization Wings of Kilimanjaro, which makes an annual trip to the summit of the mountain, after which participants paraglide back down.
As part of their trip, participants raise money for charity projects in Tanzania run by Worldserve International. Kyllo's fundraising page shows he had raised more than $4,600 toward his goal of $5,000.
On the page, he writes that he also participated in the 2013 and 2016 editions of the Wings of Kilimanjaro trip, and was invited back in 2019 to see the progress that has been made as a result of past fundraising efforts.
"Not only has WOK created the most amazing memories and experiences for myself, it has helped those who have far less and in need of the basic necessities that I have always taken for granted," Kyllo wrote.
A recent post on Kyllo's Instagram page shows him paragliding off of Grouse Mountain with a glider in the colours of the Tanzanian flag.
Numerous tributes have been posted in the comments of recent posts on Kyllo's Facebook page.
