The Foreign Affairs Department is still awaiting confirmation from Uganda as to whether a South African citizen was among the eleven people killed in a plane crash on Monday.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs will await further communication from the government of Uganda to be communicated to our High Commission in Kampala, which will then officially advise the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pretoria on whether or not one of the deceased on board is our national."

Earlier, Agence France Presse reported that a Soviet-era jet caught fire and crashed into Lake Victoria on Monday after taking off from Uganda's main airport, killing 11 people, including three top Burundian army officers.

Uganda's Information Minister Kabakumba Masiko said three Burundians, two Ugandans, an Indian and a South African, as well as a crew of four were on board, reported the agency.

On Monday night, the South African foreign affairs department said the Ugandan government through its Civil Aviation Authority was conducting salvage efforts.

"The Ugandan Government through its Civil Aviation Authority has indicated that the identities/nationalities of the people on board will be disclosed after their next of kin have been informed," said the department.

AFP also reported Russian media had reported that two Russians and two Ukrainians who made up the crew were among those killed.

Although Masiko said no bodies had yet been recovered, the country's Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Ignia Igundura told AFP: "All people on board are feared dead."

Sapa