ENGINE failure has this week been cited as the likely cause of a plane crash which claimed the lives of three prominent Furness entrepreneurs.

Alan, Sue and Jill Williams, the founders of Lindal-in-Furness firm Colony Candles, were on holiday in Tanzania along with their friend Deborah Winn when their plane came down in remote forest on October 16.

Although the four have yet to be formally identified, five bodies have been recovered and are believed to be the Furness party and the plane's pilot.

Yesterday (Thursday) Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority officials said the engine of the Cessna 206 five-seater plane had probably failed shortly after take-off in Mahale.

The plane's charred wreckage was found 20km from the airport. Investigators said it probably burst into flames after crashing, leaving any survivors no chance of escape.

The badly-burned bodies, believed to be Mr Williams, 59, his separated wife, Sue, 59, his sister-in-law Jill, 58, and his partner Ms Winn, along with the Canadian pilot, were recovered from the plane.

Deputy accident invest-igator John Nyamwihura of the TCAA said: "The aircraft was old but the engine was new and the plane well-maintained so it wasn't a question of airworthiness.

"Our preliminary con-clusion is we think it was engine failure but the wreckage has been completely burned and we haven't been able to establish what caused the failure. We're sending all the parts to the engine makers."

Meanwhile, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children announced that they would hold an annual fund-raising ball in memory of Sue and Jill Williams.

The sisters had been keen fund-raisers for the charity and organised a recent masquerade ball at Windermere which raised £18,000.

It is likely an inquest will be held locally after the bodies are returned to the UK. A funeral date has yet to be fixed.