Three journalists and one language interpreter have allegedly been injured by a group of young Maasai people living in the Ngorongoro conservation area in northern Tanzania, authorities say.

Elibariki Bajuta, the deputy commissioner for conservation in the area, told the BBC that the attack happened on Tuesday as the journalists were monitoring how authorities have been providing "conservation-based education" to the citizens living there.

Mr Bajuta says they are investigating the attack on and legal action will be taken against those identified.

The injured are being treated at a hospital in the neighbouring town of Karatu, he said.

It comes amid a row that erupted last year between the government and some Maasai community members opposed to the authorities moving them from what they call their ancestral land.

The authorities have been relocating people to the coastal region of Tanga, saying that the increased human population in Ngorongoro endangers the ecology of the area.