The minister says the accident is shocking but praised the support rendered by communities, government agencies and other players to the Dutch survivor.

Kamtukule said this in an interview today after visiting the survivor, Charlotte Lemstra, who is admitted to Nkhotakota District Hospital.

She was rescued by locals after the aircraft plunged into Lake Malawi on Tuesday.

Earlier, Nkhotakota District Hospital identified the deceased as pilot Fungai Jonathan, aged 50, who is a Zimbabwean, and Frisco Westheim, aged 29, a Dutch national. The survivor, Charlotte Lemstra, aged 22, is also Dutch.

Director of Health and Social Services for Nkhotakota Dr. Jacob Kafulafula says the survivor is in a stable condition.

Zodiak is reliably informed that the pilot lost consciousness minutes into the flight, prompting Westheim to attempt to direct the aircraft to the lake for water landing.

It is not clear what caused the pilot’s condition.

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

The people were on a tourism trip to Malawi.

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 is a Malawian-owned charter airline.

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