Tanzania’s largest privately owned airline Precision Air’s plane, on Sunday, had crashed into Africa’s largest lake ‘Lake Victoria’ in Bukoba, Tanzania due to bad weather shortly before landing.
A passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania while attempting to land in stormy weather at an airport in the lakeside city of Bukoba, the state broadcaster said. According to reports, nearly 50 people were on the flight.
At least 26 people were rescued from the plane, the airline said in a statement, adding that no deaths had been confirmed.
Video footage, that circulated online, showed the plane almost fully submerged with only its green and brown-coloured tail visible above the water line.
According to the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) report, it is not known how many passengers were on board the Precision Air flight or whether there were any fatalities. The aircraft, which had departed from the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, “fell in Lake Victoria this morning due to storms and heavy rains”, TBC reported.
A witness told the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) he saw the plane flying unsteadily as it approached the airport in poor visibility conditions, saying it took a turn for the airport but missed and went into the lake.
Rescue boats were deployed, and emergency workers were continuing to pull trapped passengers from the plane, TBC reported.
Albert Chalamila, the chief administrator of Tanzania’s Kagera region, said, Rescue workers were in touch with the pilots in the cockpit and were attempting to pull the plane from the lake.
TBC footage showed scores of residents standing along the shoreline and others wading into the shallow waters, as rescuers carried on with their efforts.
Precision Air identified the plane as flight PW 494 and said it was “involved in an accident as it was approaching Bukoba Airport”. The airline’s statement gave no further details.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, in a Twitter post, said, “I have received with sadness the news of the accident involving Precision Air’s plane.”
She also called for calm as the rescue operation continued. “Let’s be calm at this moment when rescuers are continuing with the rescue mission while praying to God to help us,” Hassan said.
(With input from agencies)
