DAR ES SALAAM, 6 Nov 2022:
At least 19 people died today after a passenger plane with 43 people on board crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania, prime minister Kassim Majaliwa said.
“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,” Majaliwa told reporters after traveling to the scene.
officials said 26 people were rescued today after a passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania.
The Precision Air plane, which took off from the capital Dar Es Salaam, crash landed in Bukoba early this morning with 43 people on board, including 39 passengers.
Precision Air said a plane “flying from Dar Es Salam to Bukoba has been involved in an accident as it was approaching Bukoba airport and crash landed in Lake Victoria.”
In a statement posted to Twitter, the country’s president Samia Saluhu Hassan sent her condolences “to all affected” and appealed for calm.
“I have received with regret the information of the plane crash of the Precision company in Lake Victoria, in the region of Kagera (…) Let us remain calm while the rescue operation continues and while we ask Allah to help us.”
African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat also expressed his solidarity with the victims.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the passengers who were traveling on a plane that crashed in Lake Victoria.”
Videos and photos shared on social media show the plane almost completely submerged in the lake, surrounded by motorboats carrying out the rescue.
– EFE