One person, a Dutch woman, was rescued from the scene shortly after the plane plunged into the lake, said an eyewitness.

District Commissioner Ben Tonho confirmed that the bodies of the two people, whose identities are yet to be provided, have been retrieved from the lake.

He said the wreckage, which had remained visible on the lake bed, had also been brought to surface by local divers.

The deceased include the pilot and a passenger.

The aircraft, a C210 (Registration 7QPFU), was operated by Nyasa Express.

Malawi’s information minister Moses Kunkuyu said in a statement that it had departed at 14:06 pm from Tongole Airfield in Nkhotakota Game Reserve for the town of Liwonde in the southern part of the country.

Nyasa Express, a Malawian charter airline, also confirmed its aircraft had crashed.

The company said the last satellite position placed the aircraft approximately 70 kilometers south of Nkhotakota, near the shoreline of Lake Malawi.

This is the second accident involving a Malawian owned aircraft this year alone following one that involved a military plane and left nine people dead, including the vice president of the republic Saulos Chilima in June.

Unverified reports indicate another Malawian aircraft also crashed in Sudan this year, which if confirmed, could make the accidents three in total.

(Additional reporting by George Kalungwe)