Tanzania plane crash: Plane crashed into Lake Victoria
A passenger plane carrying 43 people on board crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania. / Plane crashed into Lake Victoria
There were at least 19 dead. It was a flight of Precision Air, which specializes in tourist flights. / Tanzania plane crash: Plane crashed into Lake Victoria
A passenger plane with 43 people on board crashed into Lake Victoria in northwestern Tanzania this morning. There is conflicting information about the number of victims: According to the authorities, at least 19 people died in the crash, 26 were hospitalized. It has not yet been clarified whether two more people died in the hospital or whether two of the dead were not on the plane. There is a possibility that two victims died not on board but during the rescue work, said a police representative from Kagera.
The rescue work is still ongoing. Local media showed video footage showing the plane largely submerged. Rescuers tried to lift the machine out of the water using ropes and cranes.
Problems just before landing
At the time of the accident, the machine of the Tanzanian airline Precision Air was approaching the city of Bukoba on Lake Victoria. Hamza Johari, director of the Tanzanian aviation authority TCAA, told the dpa news agency.
When the machine was at an altitude of 100 meters, difficulties arose, said the police commander of Kagera province, William Mwampaghale. The weather was bad at the time of the accident. Rescue workers reported heavy rain and thick fog. However, there is no concrete information about the cause of the accident.
Specialized provider of tourist flights
According to preliminary information, there were 39 passengers, two pilots and two flight attendants on board the machine. Precision Air, the East African country’s largest airline, confirmed the accident in a brief statement. It specializes in tourist flights within Tanzania. The airline flies to Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti, among others.
Lake Victoria is the third largest inland body of water in the world after the Caspian Sea and Lake Superior in North America. Lake Victoria is located in the three-country corner of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The size of the lake roughly corresponds to the area of Bavaria.
