Tanzania mourns
A dark cloud still looms in the neighboring Tanzania after a commercial flight operated by Precision Air crash-landed in Lake Victoria on Sunday, killing 19 people.
The plane crashed on Sunday morning at the shores of the Bukoba airport runway. The accident is believed to have happened on the final approach to the airport whose runway begins right next to Lake Victoria.
Video clips circulating on social media showed the aircraft submerged in the water with emergency responders coordinating rescue efforts from nearby boats.
With 43 people on board the aircraft, only 24 survived the accident after rescue efforts were immediately launched.
The country’s Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa, said officials believe all bodies have been recovered from the plane. A team of doctors and security agencies have already identified the dead and notified their families.
The country is on Monday mourning the deceased in a funeral service at the Bukoba football stadium.
Precision Air CEO Patrick Mwanri on Sunday broke down as he sympathized with the families of the deceased.
Tanzania mourns
The regional airline has opened a Crisis Management Center and established information areas in Bukoba and Dar es Salaam to communicate with families of the passengers.
Precision Air is Tanzania’s largest privately-owned passenger airline.
