NAIROBI, Kenya — At least 19 people were killed when a small passenger plane crashed Sunday morning into Lake Victoria as it made an approach to an airport in Tanzania, the nation’s prime minister said.
Death toll climbs to 19
Update 12:01 p.m. EST Nov. 6: Kassim Majaliwa, Tanzania’s prime minister, said the death toll jumped from three to 19 people, The Associated Press reported. It was unclear whether any of the 26 people rescued from the plane died at n area hospital. The plane was carrying 39 passengers and four crew members.
Original report: Local authorities said that 26 of the 43 people on board the Precision Air Flight headed from Dar es Salaam to the Bukoba Airport were rescued and taken to an area hospital, according to The Associated Press.
The end of the runway at the airport is next to the shore of Lake Victoria, which one of the world’s largest lakes. The two pilots survived the crash but remained trapped inside the cockpit, the BBC reported. They have been communicating with local officials, according to the news outlet.
Precision Air flight plunges into Lake Victoria when landing at Bukoba Airport in Tanzania, authorities say rescue operations underway
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) November 6, 2022
🎥: Courtesy pic.twitter.com/WJLYfGeVjw
Flight PW494 “crash landed” into the lake as it was approaching the lakeside city of Bukoba, Precision Air officials said in a statement. There were 39 passengers and four crew members on board, according to CNN.
Precision Air is a Tanzanian airline company, according to the BBC and Reuters. It is Tanzania’s largest private airline and is partly owned by Kenya Airways, the BBC reported. It was founded in 1993 and operates domestic and regional flights.
“We have managed to save quite a number of people,” Kagera province police commander William Mwampaghale told journalists, according to the AP. “When the aircraft was about 100 meters (328 feet) midair, it encountered problems and bad weather. It was raining and the plane plunged into the water.”
Passenger plane crash-lands into Lake Victoria in Tanzania https://t.co/dxRc6bp0VX pic.twitter.com/IALuIGADEy
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 6, 2022
Emergency workers are using ropes to try and pull the ATR-42 aircraft out of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, according to the BBC.
“We want to see if the landing gear is stuck so that we can ask for more technical assistance to push it out of the waters,” Albert Chalamila, a top regional official, told reporters.
Rescue efforts are continuing, Mwampaghale said.
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