LAKE VICTORIA (Tanzania), Nov 7 (NNN-DAILYNEWS) — The death toll from Sunday’s plane crash in Lake Victoria in Tanzania has jumped to 19, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said, after the Precision Air flight with dozens of passengers aboard plunged into water while approaching the northwestern city of Bukoba.
Regional authorities and the airline earlier said that 26 survivors out of the 43 people on board flight PW 494 had been pulled to safety and taken to hospital in the lakeside city in Kagera region.
The 19 bodies, including two sisters Atulinde Biteya and Aneth Biteya and a Chinese man Lin Zhang, have been identified.
The pilot, Burundi Lubaga who had been captaining planes for over two decades and the plane’s first officer, Peter Odhiambo were also pronounced dead. The accident which was described as a “tragedy” by the Precision Air Chief Executive Officer Patrick Mwanri left the country’s aviation industry and the nation horrified.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, Zanzibar President Dr Hussein Mwinyi and the Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa have all sent their comfort messages.
Kagera Regional Commissioner Albert Chalamila said no other bodies have been recovered. Early reports suggested the accident was a result of bad weather.
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa suspended all flight operations at Bukoba airport indefinitely.
AirTanzania, the national flag carrier also suspended its Sunday flights to Bukoba.
Expert team from the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority (TCAA) is currently in Bukoba investigating the incident.
Precision Air, which is partly owned by Kenya Airways, was founded in 1993 and operates domestic and regional flights as well as private charters to popular tourist destinations such as the Serengeti National Park and the Zanzibar archipelago.
The accident comes five years after 11 people died when a plane belonging to safari company Coastal Aviation crashed in northern Tanzania. — NNN-DAILYNEWS
