A total of 26 people aboard the crashed Tanzanian Precision Air plane have been rescued while search and rescue efforts of seventeen others is underway after the aircraft plunged into Lake Victoria as it attempted to land in the lakeside town of Bukoba.
Preliminary findings show the crash was caused by bad weather today morning.
At the time, the plane had 43 people on board. However, no fatalities have been reported so far.
They included 39 passengers, two pilots and two cabin crew aboard ATR 42-500 plane.
Precision Air is Tanzania’s largest privately owned airline and is partly owned by the Kenya Airways which is experiencing operational paralysis occasioned by pilots’ strike.
Those rescued have since been rushed to nearby hospitals for emergency treatment.
The plane departed from the commercial capital, Dar-es-Salaam before plunging into Victoria due to suspected storm and heavy rains in Bukoba.
“I have received with sadness the news of the accident involving Precision Air’s plane. Let’s be calm at this moment when rescuers are continuing with the rescue mission while praying to God to help us.” Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu said.
Bukoba is on the western edge of Lake Victoria, which is on the border with Uganda and Kenya.
Viral video footage shows rescue workers and local fishermen in the lake rescuing survivors and using lopes to pull out the aircraft.
The passenger plane was almost completely submerged with only the brown and green tail fin above the water, surrounded by rescue workers and fishing boats.
