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Front Page Regional Air Cessna crash-lands on road, eight injuredby Arusha Times Reporter For the residents of Kigongoni location of Mto-wa-Mbu area in Monduli district, it was a dramatic sight to see a small aeroplane landing on the road. But for the pilot and seven passengers aboard the Cessna Grand Caravan plane belonging to the Regional Air Service Company of Arusha the occurrence was a Wednesday morning nightmare. The area of accident is a few kilometres from Mto wa Mbu along the newly constructed tarmac road which runs from the Makuyuni junction to Ngorongoro National Park gate. The aeroplane had just taken off from the Lake Manyara airstrip, heading to the Serengeti plains, when mechanical problems forced its pilot, Captain Freddy Lauwo to perform an emergency landing. The pilot, reportedly, jettisoned the fuel and decided to land on the tarmac road stretching below. Lauwo was also hurt in the crash. All could have probably gone well, were it not for an approaching car which forced the plane pilot to swerve on the side to avoid hitting it, thus causing the high speeding aircraft to crash. A local tour driver reported the incident to Arusha as soon as he saw the plane crash, by calling on a radio call to his company. "Save the children" ambulance was the first vehicle to be dispatched to the scene long before the report reached the Regional Police desk. Regional Crime Officer (RCO), Godfrey Nzowa rushed to the scene with a team of Police officers as soon as he heard of the crash. The Regional Police Commander (RPC), James Kombe, issued a report later on, indicating that six people were injured in the accident, four of whom, seriously. He named the seriously hurt passengers as Calvin O’Conell (45), Brian Hollind (59) both British citizens; Kortge Ursulla (65) and Wolfgang Kortge (70) from Germany. The four were rushed to Nairobi for further treatment. Others who were taken to Arusha for treatment are, Kathleen Hollanda (56), Mike Sanders (33) and Tina Noela all being British citizens. RPC Kombe, praised the residents of Kigongoni for their selfless support and the fact that they made sure all the passengers belongings remained safe.
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