At Least 19 Killed As Plane Crashes Into Lake Victoria
At least 19 were killed and 26 were rescued after the Precision Air flight plunged into Lake Victoria, Tanzania while attempting to land during stormy weather on Sunday.
The plane, which departed from the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, crashed while attempting to land during stormy weather, Al Jazeera reported quoting the country’s Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa.
The plane was approaching the airport in the northwestern city of Bukoba when it plunged into the water. Prime Minister told reporters:
All Tanzanians join you in mourning these 19 people … who have lost their lives.
Regional commissioner Albert Chalamila said 43 people – including 39 passengers, two pilots and two cabin crew – were on board the plane.
Local authorities and the airline earlier said that 26 survivors out of the 43 people on board flight PW 494 had been pulled to safety and taken to hospital in Bukoba, a lakeside city in the Kagera region.
It was not immediately clear if the 19 victims included rescuers who drowned or whether the 48-seater aircraft had more people on board than previously disclosed, a regional official said.
Chalamila said there is a possibility that two people were not onboard but died during the rescue effort.”
Precision Air, Tanzania’s largest privately-owned airline, said it had dispatched rescuers to the scene.
