Lilongwe, Malawi – In a devastating turn of events, Malawi’s Vice President, Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima, and nine other officials have lost their lives in a plane crash. The tragic incident occurred on Monday, when a Malawi Defence Force aircraft carrying the Vice President and nine others went missing.
According to a statement from the Office of the President and Cabinet, the aircraft took off from Lilongwe at 09:17 am but failed to land at Mzuzu International Airport at 10:02 am as scheduled. Despite efforts by aviation authorities to make contact, the plane disappeared from radar, sparking a massive search operation.
Hundreds of soldiers, police officers, and forest rangers combed the area, searching for the plane, which was also carrying a former first lady. The search efforts lasted over a day, until the wreckage was finally located in a mountainous area in the north of the country.
Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera confirmed the tragic news in a live address on state television, stating that there were no survivors of the crash. The plane, a small propeller-driven Dornier 228-type twin propeller plane operated by the Malawian armed forces, was carrying seven passengers and three military crew members.
The cause of the crash is yet to be determined, but air traffic controllers had advised the plane to turn back to Lilongwe due to bad weather and poor visibility. The incident has sent shockwaves across the nation, and an investigation is underway to determine the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.