07 November 2022

• The plane had 43 people on board.

• In the latest report, 19 people had been confirmed dead.

A Tanzanian man has been gifted Tsh 1 million by Regional Commissioner cum politician Albert Chalamila.

Kagera gave the cash as a token of appreciation after the man saved 24 people from the ill-fated Precision Air plane.

The plane crashed yesterday (Sunday) in Lake Victoria while preparing to land at Bukoba airport. There were 43 people in the plane and among those saved 24, 19 people lost their life.

Tanzania's prime minister Kassim Majaliwa says President Samia Suluhu has ordered that the young man be taken to the Internal Affairs Minister.

So that he can be given a job with the Police Force that specializes in rescue missions. Kassim was speaking during a body viewing ceremony for the 19 crash victims.

In his speech on Sunday night, Tanzania's prime minister Kassim Majaliwa announced the deaths, saying,

"Tunasikitika kwamba tumepoteza ndugu zetu kumi na tisa kwenye zoezi la uokozi." (We are sorry for the loss of 19 people, identified during the recovery mission)

Kassim also said that the government will be working with all the agencies to establish the cause of the accident.

Multiple sources reported that the deaths may have occurred as a result of the plane being submerged in the water.

The airline has, however, remained noncommittal on stating the fact, only holding that it was yet to confirm the number of fatalities.

“Precision Air sincerely understands the anxiety for confirmed information and will therefore do its best to issue more details upon confirmation from our rescue team and authority,” the statement read.

In its periodic updates, the company said 26 passengers aboard the plane had been rescued and rushed to hospital.

It also said that there were no deaths reported so far with the rescue mission for the missing passengers ongoing.

“We regret to announce that Precision Air flight no PW494 operated with ATR42 (PWF) with 39 passengers on board (38 adults and one infant) and four crew has been involved in an accident as it was approaching Bukoba Airport,” the statement read.

The airline said the plane was flying from Dar es Salaam and was destined for Bukoba Airport.