Tanzania Mourns Plane Crash Victims

Grieving Tanzanians paid emotional tribute Monday to 19 people killed when a passenger plane plunged into Lake Victoria in the country's deadliest air crash in decades.

The Precision Air flight from the financial capital Dar es Salaam crashed on Sunday morning while trying to land in the northwestern city of Bukoba.

Police blamed bad weather for the accident in the Kagera region. There were 24 survivors out of the 43 people aboard flight PW 494.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa was among hundreds of people who gathered at Kaitaba Stadium in Bukoba, with Muslim and Christian clerics leading prayers for the dead as onlookers wiped away tears.

The accident shocked Tanzanians, with local broadcasters running live coverage of an hours-long ceremony to hand over the bodies of the victims to their families.

Majaliwa said the government would pay for the funeral services for the victims in addition to providing one million Tanzanian shillings ($430) to their families.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Monday hailed emergency workers and volunteers for acting quickly to save lives.

"I congratulate those who participated in the rescue, including the people of Bukoba," she said on Twitter. "I pray for the deceased to rest in peace and for the injured to recover quickly."

But the accident has sparked anger among many Tanzanians over the government's handling of the rescue effort.

Majaliwa said the government would do more "to ensure safety in the aviation transport sector."

The accident comes five years after 11 people died when a plane belonging to safari company Coastal Aviation crashed in northern Tanzania.

In 1999, a dozen people, including 10 U.S. tourists, died in a plane crash in northern Tanzania while flying between Serengeti National Park and Kilimanjaro airport. (AFP).

.

.