The pilot of Tanzanian Precision Air flight PW 494 had already informed passengers about the landing amid severe turbulence and heavy rain.

Seconds later, the plane was in Lake Victoria in Tanzania.

"The water poured into the plane, the passengers in the front were covered with water," Richard Komba, one of the survivors, told local newspaper The Citizen.

Claudia Bröll

Political correspondent for Africa based in Cape Town.

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19 people were killed in the plane crash on Sunday morning.

As it was said on Monday, 24 people could be rescued, previously there had been talk of 26 rescued.

According to the airline and authorities, there were 39 passengers and four crew members on board.

The pilots were in contact with the authorities immediately after the crash landing, they said that the oxygen in the cockpit was running out.

Later they could only be recovered dead.

The two flight attendants survived.

As the passenger Richard Komba further reported, a crew member managed with difficulty to open the rear door.

"Suddenly we found ourselves in the water outside the plane." The first to come to the rescue were fishermen in a simple wooden boat.

Many were afraid that the boat would not be able to accommodate everyone.

More lifeboats followed minutes later.

Videos on social media showed large crowds on the shore and rescuers wading into the lake to free those still trapped from the plane.

Rescuers later used ropes to pull the almost completely submerged plane closer to shore.

The survivors were taken to a hospital.

The plane was on its way from the economic metropolis of Dar es Salaam to Bukoba, a city directly on Lake Victoria.

In the morning, the machine started in good weather.

Precision Air is the largest private airline in Tanzania, with participation in Kenya Airways.

It was an ATR42-500 aircraft, a turboprop regional airliner manufactured by the Franco-Italian manufacturing consortium ATR.

The funeral service for the victims of the accident was held in a stadium in Bukoba on Monday.

Tanzania's President expressed her condolences to the relatives.