Emergency services rescue passengers from the crashed plane this Sunday in Lake Victoria, in Tanzania. EFE
At least 19 people have died this Sunday after a plane crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania, as confirmed by the country's Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa, in statements to the media.
The aircraft, from the Tanzanian company Precision Air and in which 39 passengers were traveling – 38 adults and one minor – and four crew members, has suffered an accident due to bad weather, which caused it to end up crashing in the largest lake in Africa.
"Precision Air flight No. PW 494, which was flying between [the cities of] Dar Es Salam [the country's commercial capital] and Bukoba, was involved in an accident while approaching Bukoba airport," the company said. through a brief statement released on the social network Twitter.
The airline confirmed in a second message that 26 passengers had been rescued and sent to a hospital, although it did not specify their condition.
Until the prime minister's remarks, the country's state-owned broadcasting corporation had reported on Twitter that three deaths had been recorded.
"We send our condolences to those who have lost their loved ones and to all Tanzanians for this incident that has claimed the lives of 19 people," said Majaliwa, who traveled to the scene of the incident.
Taarifa kwa umma / Notice to the public pic.twitter.com/V748nvL5Bi
— Precision Air (@PrecisionAirTz) November 6, 2022
The cause of the accident is not yet clear, but the Tanzanian national broadcaster, TBC, pointed out that the plane crashed amid "heavy rain and strong winds".
A witness told TBC that he had seen the plane flying unsteadily as it approached the airport in poor visibility conditions, and according to his impression, it turned to approach the runway and headed for the lake instead.
Precision Air, the nation's largest private airline, identified the aircraft as an ATR42-500.
Videos broadcast on social networks show the aircraft almost completely sunken and surrounded by speedboats carrying out the rescue.
Rescue personnel help a passenger.STR (EFE)
Local residents watch the rescue efforts.
SITES PROTASE (AFP)
Members of the emergency services work this Sunday to rescue passengers from the crashed plane in Lake Victoria.STR (EFE)
Rescue personnel collect debris from the aircraft's fuselage. SITIDE PROTASE (AFP)
Before the fatalities were revealed, the country's president, Samia Saluhu Hassan, lamented the incident and called for calm in a message also posted on Twitter.
“I have received with regret the information about the plane crash of the Precision company, in Lake Victoria, in the Kagera region.
I send my condolences to all those affected by the accident.
Let us remain calm as the rescue operation continues and as we ask Allah to help us," she wrote.
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