At least 19 people were killed when a Tanzanian passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria while trying to land in the lakeside resort of Bukoba.
Of the 43 people on board the Precision Air flight, 26 were initially rescued and sent to hospital.
Both pilots survived the crash and were able to speak to local authorities from the cockpit, but the prime minister says they may have died.
Rescue workers and local fishermen are still trying to rescue others trapped.
Abdul Nouri was waiting at the airport for a flight back to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, when he saw the plane sinking into the water.
“We were really shocked. People panicked and some started crying and screaming,” he told JEE News.
“People at the arrival gate also panicked – most of them were waiting to receive their relatives.”
He has spoken to the fishermen who were the first on the scene. They told him that they were able to enter the plane to rescue people when a flight attendant opened the back door while the plane was in the water.
Bad weather has been blamed for the accident but the rain has stopped allowing rescue workers to reach the accident site.
Emergency workers have used ropes to pull the ATR-42 plane closer to shore, and part of the plane is now above water.
Immediately after the crash, the plane was almost completely submerged with only the brown and green fins visible.
One end of the Bukoba Airport runway is located on the shores of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake.
President Sama Salwa Hassan has expressed his condolences to the affected people and appealed for peace to continue the relief operations.
The plane was flying from Das Salaam to Mwanza via Bukoba.
Precision Air is Tanzania’s largest private airline and is partly owned by Kenya Airways. It was founded in 1993 and operates domestic and regional flights.
