A plane carrying 43 passengers crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania on Sunday owing to terrible weather as it approached the northwest city of Bukoba, according to police. Rescuers are currently looking for survivors.
At Bukoba airport, provincial police chief William Mwampaghale informed reporters that “there was an accident involving a Precision Air plane which… went into water around 100 meters from the airport.”
A total of 43 individuals, including 39 passengers, two pilots, and two cabin crew, were on board aircraft PW 494 from the financial center of Dar es Salaam to the lakeside city in the Kagera area, according to regional commissioner Albert Chalamila.
As of right now, 26 individuals have been saved and transferred to our referral hospital, according to Chalamila.
He added that the aircraft was an ATR-42, made by the Franco-Italian company ATR, which has its Toulouse headquarters, and that “the rescue operation is still on and we are speaking with the pilots.”
Tanzania’s largest private airline, Precision Air, a publicly traded corporation, announced that it has sent rescuers to the location.
In a statement, the airline added that a team of investigators made up of Precision Air technical employees and the Tanzania Airports Authority had also left to join the rescue operation on the ground.
It stated, “At this time, no fatality has been officially confirmed.”
When rescuers, including fisherman, walked through water to pull victims to safety, video footage of the incident was shown on local television. The plane was seen to be mostly submerged.
Cranes and ropes were used by emergency personnel as locals tried to aid in the effort to raise the aircraft out of the sea.
The accident’s victims received condolences from President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
As the rescue effort goes on, let’s maintain our composure and pray to God for assistance, she wrote on Twitter.
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