Tanzania has launched an investigation into Sunday’s crash of a passenger plane that plunged into Lake Victoria, killing 19 people, the nation’s prime minister said.
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The final report of the probe, which includes experts from multiple institutions, will be made public when the investigation ends, Kassim Majaliwa said during a ceremony to pay last respect to those who perished.
“After this accident, the steps that have been taken include coordination of rescue operations in collaboration with the people who rescued our brothers and sisters, and rushed them to hospital for treatment, overseeing and providing first aid to those injured, finalizing formalities to identify the bodies and share information with the public, and gathering experts for the preliminary investigation on the cause of the accident,” Majaliwa said.
The crash of the plane with 43 people aboard is Tanzania’s first deadly aviation accident in decades.
Meanwhile the Tanzanian government paid 1,000,000 Tanzanian shillings ($434) to each family that lost their relatives, as well as financing funeral services for those killed in the crash.
Earlier Albert Chalamila, Kagera’s regional commissioner, clarified that the number of people rescued from the crash scene is 24, not 26 as reported earlier.
He said that two rescuers, who were injured during rescue efforts, were mistaken as passengers.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has ordered authorities to employ a fisherman who led a rescue mission, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said on Monday.
A statement by the Prime Minister's Office said President Hassan has ordered the Ministry of Home Affairs to employ the fisherman identified as Majaliwa Jackson in the Tanzania Fire and Rescue Force.
Local media reports said the fisherman led other fishermen in rescuing passengers shortly after the plane had crashed on the shores of Lake Victoria.
"The fisherman should be trained in rescue mission," said Majaliwa in the statement.
The prime minister announced the presidential employment offer to the fisherman when he led thousands of mourners that paid final respects to 19 passengers who were killed in the plane crash in Bukoba district in Kagera region, said the statement. ■
A very active and complex mid-May weather pattern is set to produce numerous areas of severe weather, heavy rain, high winds, and anomalous temperatures through this weekend.