At least 19 passengers have been confirmed dead after a Tanzanian plane crash-landed into Lake Victoria in the early hours of Sunday.
This was revealed by Tanzania’s prime minister, Kassim Majaliwa in an address on Sunday evening.
“We are sorry for the loss of 19 people, identified during the recovery mission,” he said.
Kassim also said the government will be working with all the agencies to establish the cause of the accident.
Multiple sources reported that the deaths may have occurred as a result of the plane being submerged in the water.
The airline has, however, remained noncommittal on stating the fact, only holding that it was yet to confirm the number of fatalities.
“Precision Air sincerely understands the anxiety for confirmed information and will therefore do its best to issue more details upon confirmation from our rescue team and authority,” the company statement read.
In its periodic updates, the company said 26 passengers aboard the plane had been rescued and rushed to hospital.
It also said that there were no deaths reported so far with rescue mission for the missing passengers ongoing.
“We regret to announce that Precision Air flight no PW494 operated with ATR42 (PWF) with 39 passengers on board (38 adults and one infant) and four crew has been involved in an accident as it was approaching Bukoba Airport,” the statement read.
The airline said the plane was flying from Dar es Salaam and was destined for Bukoba Airport.
They said an investigation team consisting of its technical staff and Tanzanian civil aviation authority has joined in the rescue operations.
They added that information centers have been set up in Bukoba and Dar es Salaam.
The cause of the crash as reported by TBC was due to heavy rainfall and strong wind as it attempted to land at Bukoba airport.
The plane crash-landed into Lake Victoria.
Precision Air is Tanzania’s largest private airline operating domestic and regional flights having been founded in 1993.
The ill-fated plane is said to have been 12 years old.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan has already expressed her condolences to those affected and called for calm as the rescue operation continues.
