Horror as Tanzanian passenger plane crashes into Lake Victoria (PHOTOS)

A Tanzanian passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria while attempting to land in stormy weather at an airport in the lakeside city of Bukoba.

Precision Air flight plunged into Lake Victoria in Tanzania in the early hours of Sunday.

Fifteen people have been rescued so far from the crashed plane but it was not known how many passengers were on board the Precision Air flight or whether there were any fatalities

Police said that rescue efforts were still underway.

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

Video footage and images that circulated on social media showed the plane almost fully submerged, with only its green and brown-coloured tail visible above the water line of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake.

Rescue boats were deployed and emergency workers were continuing to rescue other passengers trapped in the plane.

Precision Air, Tanzania’s largest privately owned airline, identified the plane as flight PW 494 and said it was “involved in an accident as it was approaching Bukoba Airport”. The airline’s statement gave no further detail.

“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.