A small passenger plane crashed into Lake Victoria on approach to an airport in Tanzania, and the country"s prime minister says 19 people on board were killed.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa gave the new death toll, up from three. Earlier, local authorities said 26 of those on the Precision Air flight from the coastal city of Dar es Salaam were rescued and taken to a hospital. It was not clear if any of those who were rescued died at the hospital.

“We have managed to save quite a number of people. When the aircraft was about 100 meters midair, it encountered problems and bad weather. It was raining and the plane plunged into the water. The rescue efforts were continuing”, - Kagera province police commander William Mwampaghale said.