Bodies of four British tourists, who died in plane crash, found in Tanzania

Rescue workers on Tuesday found the bodies of four British tourists and their Canadian pilot who were killed in a plane crash. The aircraft had been missing since Sunday afternoon. At least two bodies have been recovered from the remote crash site and police were helping in efforts to retrieve the remains near the Mahale National Park in western Tanzania, police spokesman Mohamed Mhina said.

The Cessna C206 plane flew from the national park, on the eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika, on Sunday afternoon, "but contact was lost soon after takeoff and the aircraft failed to arrive at its destination," Mark Holdsworth, managing director of the Nomad tourism company that arranged the tour, told The Associated Press.

Four aircraft were sent to search for the light plane and a crash site was identified from the air, he said.

"The site is remote and the terrain very rugged, making access on foot extremely difficult. A ground team finally reached the site at first light this morning and has confirmed that the plane crashed with no survivors," Holdsworth said.

A spokesman of the British High Commission said an official statement will be released later Tuesday.

Officials in Canada's High Commission were not immediately available for comment.

Inspectors from the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority are on their way to the crash site to investigate the cause of the accident, Holdsworth said.

The tourists were flying to Katavi National Park, one of Africa's greatest remote wildlife sanctuaries. Katavi has greater density of game than most parks in Africa and yet it so remote that it receives fewer than 100 visitors a year, the AP says.

T.E.