Rescue operations were underway in Tanzania on Sunday after a plane carrying 39 passengers, including an infant, crashed into Africa’s largest lake, the airline said in a statement.
At least 19 people were killed, the country’s prime minister Kassim Majaliwa said.
Out of the 39 passengers on board the Precision Air flight, 26 had been rescued and taken to hospital, it said in a statement. “We are yet to confirm the number of fatalities from the scene of the accident,” it said, adding that 4 crew members were also on board the flight.
“We have managed to save quite a number of people,” Kagera province police commander William Mwampaghale told journalists.
“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,” he said. “Everything is under control.”
Tanzanian Precision Air said in a statement on Facebook that its flight PW494, flying from the commercial hub of Dar es Salaam on the eastern coast of the country, was “involved in an accident as it was approaching Bukoba airport.” The airline said the aircraft was a ATR42-500 — a twin-jet turboprop manufactured by the Italian-French company ATR.
Bukoba is on the western edge of Lake Victoria, which is on the border with Uganda and Kenya.
“The rescue team has been dispatched to the scene,” Precision Air said.
“I have received with sadness the news of the accident involving Precision Air’s plane,” Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu wrote on Twitter. “Let’s be calm at this moment when rescuers are continuing with the rescue mission while praying to God to help us.”
