Tanzania mourns the death of 19 people in the crash of a plane that crashed this morning in Lake Victoria, the largest in Africa, for reasons yet to be clarified. The fishermen were the first to arrive at the scene of the tragedy and spot the tail of the aircraft, an Atr 42-500 owned by local private company Precision Air, which emerged from the water while the rest of the cockpit was submerged.
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A Precision Air plane crashes into Lake Victoria on landing at Bukoba Airport in Tanzania, authorities say rescue operations are underway
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Plane crashes in Tanzania, the dynamics
The plane crashed as it approached its destination, the city of Bukoba in the north-west of the country, after departing Dar es Salaam, the country’s economic capital. The plane “fell into the water about 100 meters from the airport,” regional police commander William Mwampaghale told AFP. Videos released by local media show rescue workers trying to lift the plane with cables and cranes while local residents help with the rescue. Of the 43 people on board, 24 were rescued, including 39 passengers, two pilots and two crew members, Regional Commissioner Albert Chalamila said.
The President’s condolences
“Let’s keep calm,” appealed President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who offered his condolences to the families of those involved in the incident. The President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, also offered his condolences, as did the Secretary General of the East African Community, Peter Mathuki. Precision Air is Tanzania’s largest private airline and is partly owned by Kenya Airways. Established in 1993, it operates national and regional flights as well as private charter flights to famous tourist destinations such as Serengeti National Park and Zanzibar Archipelago. The vehicle is produced by the Franco-Italian company Atr and assembled in Toulouse. Just five years ago, another plane crash shook the African country: a plane belonging to a safari company crashed in northern Tanzania, claiming eleven lives. Another tragedy in March 2019: an Ethiopian Airlines plane from Addis Ababa to Nairobi crashed six minutes after take-off in a field south-east of the Ethiopian capital, killing all 157 people on board. Years earlier, in 2007, it was the turn of a Kenya Airways plane that crashed into a swamp, killing 114 people.