A Precision Airline flight carrying 43 passengers including an infant crashed into Lake Victoria while attempting to land on the lakeside town of the northwest city of Bukoba.
Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa issued a statement. “All Tanzanians are with you in mourning the 19 people who lost lives during this accident,” Majaliwa told a crowd after arriving at Bukoba airport, where the flight had been scheduled to land from financial capital Dar es Salaam. Watch video of the rescue efforts below (TRIGGER WARNING):
According to France 24, Flight PW 494 was carrying 39 passengers, including an infant, as well as four crew members. The airline initially stated 26 of the 43 people on board were rescued but the death toll climbed higher as rescuers went in the water to retrieve passengers. Precision Airlines is Tanzania’s largest publicly traded, private airline.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan expressed her condolences to those affected by the accident.
“Let’s continue to be calm while the rescue operation continues as we pray to God to help us,” she said on Twitter. Hassan was sworn in as Tanzania’s first woman president in 2021.
This story is developing.
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