Jackson Majaliwa, a young Tanzanian fisherman who was one of the first responders at the site of Sunday's plane crash which killed 19 people including Hanifa Hamza, a Rwandan medical doctor has been praised for his heroics that played a key role in saving the 24 survivors of the accident.

He has since been awarded one million Tanzanian shillings (approximately Rwf 440,000), and offered a job in the country’s fire and rescue brigade.

In an interview with the media, he described how he tried to save the pilots stuck in the cockpit and how he nearly lost his life trying to rescue them.

Speaking from his hospital bed in Bukoba, the young man said he panicked as he saw the passenger plane approach from the wrong direction, before it plummeted into the lake.

He rushed to the scene with three fellow fishermen and helped to open the rear door by smashing it with a rowing oar to assist the passengers seated towards the rear of the plane to be rescued.

Majaliwa said he then moved to the front and dived into the water. He and one of the pilots then communicated with each other by making signs through the cockpit window.

"He directed me to break the window screen. I emerged from the water and asked airport security, who had arrived, if they had any tools that we could use to smash the screen,” he said.

"They gave me an axe, but I was stopped by a man with a public announcement speaker from going down and smashing the screen. He said they were already in communication with the pilots and there was no water leakage in the cockpit," he added.

He added that after being stopped he "dived back and waved goodbye to the pilot".

But the pilot then indicated that he still wanted to be rescued.

"He pointed out the cockpit emergency door to me. I swam back up and took a rope and tied it to the door and we tried to pull it with other boats, but the rope broke and hit me in the face and knocked me unconscious. The next thing I know I was here at the hospital," Majaliwa said.

Both pilots are among the 19 confirmed fatalities after the plane - operated by Precision Air, Tanzania's largest private airline.

Of the 43 people on board there were 24 survivors, according to Precision Air.

President Paul Kagame, on Monday, expressed his condolences to his Tanzanian counterpart Suluhu Samia and the people of Tanzania over the fatal crash.

Among many other dignitaries, Moussa Faki, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission issued messages of solidarity and sympathy to the people of Tanzania and everyone affected.