Malawi’s President Chakwera says his deputy has died along with nine others after the plane he was on disappeared off radar in the country.
The plane in which the Vice President of the East African country of Malawi, Saulos Klaus Chilima, was traveling crashed, killing everyone on board.
Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera announced in a public address today that everyone on board the plane that went missing on Monday had died, Reuters news agency reported. According to Chakwera, the wreckage of the plane carrying the Vice President has been found. No signs of life were found in the wreckage. The plane carrying Saulos Chilima and nine people with him disappeared from radar in the country in the morning hours of Monday, June 10. It was stated that the aircraft, a military aircraft, was flying in adverse weather conditions. After the plane disappeared from the radar, a search operation was launched to find the plane in Chikangawa Forest.
SEARCH EFFORTS TERMINATED
Making a statement after the plane was found and the search efforts ended, President Chakwera referred to the death of his deputy as a ‘terrible tragedy’ and said he was ‘deeply saddened’ to bring this news to the public.
President Chakwera and his deputy Chilima, members of two different political parties, had decided to form an alliance for the 2020 elections. Chilima, 51, was traveling by plane to attend the funeral of former state minister Ralph Kasambara, who died four days before the crash. Former First Lady Shanil Dzimbiri was also on board the plane, which took off from the capital Lilongwe on Monday morning. The plane, which was scheduled to land at the airport in Mzuzu in the north, turned back due to low visibility. Chilima, who has been Vice President since 2014, was detained in 2022 on corruption charges. The court dropped the charges against him last month without giving reasons. Chilima was married with two children.
