DAR ES SALAAM — A domestic airline plane plunged into Lake Victoria in Tanzania early on Sunday. At least 49 passengers are believed to have been on board.

The aircraft crashed due to bad weather shortly before landing in the northwestern city of Bukoba, police said, adding that rescue efforts were under way.

"There was an accident involving a Precision Air plane which... crashed into water about 100 meters from the airport," regional police commander William Mwampaghale told reporters at Bukoba airport.

Local authorities said 26 of the 43 people on board the Precision Air flight from the coastal city of Dar Es Salaam had been rescued and taken to a hospital.

"The situation is under control as security teams are working hard to rescue people," Mwampaghale added.

Precision Air, Tanzania's largest private airline, released a brief statement confirming the accident.

"The rescue team has been dispatched to the scene and more information will be released in 2 hours' time," the airline said.

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