Tanzania arrests three after British wildlife pilot killed

Tanzanian police have arrested three men after a British pilot was killed when gunmen opened fire on his helicopter as he tracked suspected elephant poachers, a minister said Sunday.

Roger Gower, 37, was killed on Friday when his helicopter crashed after it was attacked during a patrol of the Maswa Game Reserve in northern Tanzania, close to the world famous Serengeti National Park.

"The suspects are in the hands of police," Natural Resources and Tourism Minister Jumanne Maghembe told AFP.

"They are cooperating, and soon more people making up the poaching gang will be netted and brought to justice."

Gower's South African colleague, safari guide Nicky Bester, leapt out of the helicopter midair as it crashed and was injured, according to a spokesman from Tanzania's National Parks, Pascal Shelutete.

"Three elephant carcasses that were found indicated that whoever shot the chopper down was on a serious illegal hunting spree," Shelutete said, adding such poachers can be "heavily armed with sophisticated military weaponry".

Photographs of the crashed helicopter show twisted metal, as well as apparent bullet holes in the fuselage, and smears of blood on the pilot's seat.