CNN –
Several passengers aboard a commercial flight operated by Precision Air that crashed into Lake Victoria in Tanzania on Sunday have been rescued, the airline and local officials said.
Boats with emergency response personnel were deployed to the crash site on Africa’s largest lake near Bukoba airport. The airline said 26 people had been rescued so far before adding that no deaths had yet been confirmed, according to a statement posted on its Twitter account.
The flight had taken off from Tanzania’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, but was “involved in an accident on approach to Bukoba Airport and crashed into Lake Victoria,” the company said.
A total of 43 people were on the flight, including 39 passengers and four crew members, according to the airline and Kagera Provincial Commissioner Albert Chalamila.
Video circulating on social media taken by onlookers on the shores of Lake Victoria showed the plane submerged in water with emergency responders coordinating rescue efforts from nearby boats.
“We’re trying to get the plane out of the water. We’re trying to see if the wheels touch the ground under the water or find some other way to push it out of the lake. At this point, there’s still communication from the cockpit. The pilots are still in contact with us,” Chalamila said.
Speaking at the scene earlier on Sunday, Kagera Provincial Police Commander William Mwampaghale said “everything is currently under control”.
“Rescue operations are on, so far we have rescued several people and eventually we will make sure that we rescue everyone and get the plane out of the water,” he said. “Those who have been rescued have been transferred to our reference hospital.”
Tanzania’s president took to social media to call for calm as rescue workers worked at the site of a downed plane.
“I have received with sadness the information of the crash of the Precision Air flight in Lake Victoria in the Kagera region,” President Samoa Suluhu wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
“I send my condolences to all those affected by this incident. We remain calm while the rescue operation continues and we pray to God to help us.”
Precision Air is a Tanzanian airline based in Dar es Salaam.