A Dutch passenger is rescued and 2 people are missing after a small plane crashes into Lake Malawi

BLANTYRE, Malawi — A small plane crashed into Lake Malawi on Tuesday with three people onboard, an official in Malawi said. A Dutch passenger survived and was rescued by fishermen but another passenger and the pilot were missing.

Malawi's Information Minister Moses Kumkuyu said in a statement that the rescued passenger is female but did not give her age. She sustained minor injuries and is being treated at a hospital, he added.

The plane crashed close to the shoreline of Lake Malawi in shallow water, Kumkuyu said. He said the aircraft had been located and a rescue effort was underway.

The plane was a Cessna C210-type aircraft, which can typically carry six people, going from the central town of Nkhotakota on the shore of the lake to the southern town of Liwonde. It was operated by the Nyasa Express charter airline, according to the statement.

Lake Malawi is Africa's third largest lake and is around 580 kilometers (360 miles) long, more than half the length of the country.