Death Toll From Tanzanian Plane Crash Rises To 19

Tanzania Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said that 19 people have been confirmed dead from Sundays’s plane crash in Lake Victoria. The air craft’s two pilots survived the crash and managed to speak to local officials from the cockpit but the prime minister says they may have since died.

Rescuers pulled 26 survivors to safety after the Precision Air plane crashed due to bad weather, with 43 people, including 39 passengers, aboard flight PW 494 from the financial capital Dar es Salaam to the lakeside city.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa also said the rescued passengers were in hospital and were not seriously injured, “but they are shocked and worried”.

The names of passengers and crew on board will not be released until all next of kin have been notified according to a statement by the airline.

Emergency workers have used ropes to pull the aircraft closer to the shore, and some of the plane’s body is now above the water.

The cause was not immediately clear, but the Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation said the incident took place amid storms and heavy rains.