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Zimbabwean aircraft crashes into Lake Malawi; Dutch national and Zim pilot killed
By AFP News and Agencies
A Zimbabwean pilot and a Dutch man were killed when a small plane crashed into Lake Malawi but another passenger survived and was rescued by fishermen, Malawian officials said Wednesday.
The Cessna plane went down about 200 kilometres northeast of the capital Lilongwe on Tuesday and “ditched into Lake Malawi but close to the shores,” the government said in a statement.
The deceased were identified as Fungai Majakwara, a 50-year-old pilot from Zimbabwe, and Frisco Westheim, 29, from The Netherlands, it said.
A Dutch woman, Charlotte Lemstra, escaped through a window and was rescued by fishermen on the lake, tourism minister Vera Kamtukule told AFP.
The 22-year-old had minor injuries to her face and had already been discharged from hospital, a government minister said after meeting Lemstra.
The three were flying from Nkhotakota, in the country’s northeast, to southeastern Makhanga when the plane crashed at around 3pm.
Ben Matengeni, a government official for the region said bodies of the deceased were discovered early Wednesday morning following intensified rescue efforts.
“We mobilized the support of locals and fishermen. It’s through their efforts that we managed to retrieve the bodies and the wreckage. The bodies have since been taken to a district hospital,” he said.