In a statement from the office of the president of Malawi, the country’s Vice President, Sailors Chilima, and nine others are reported missing in an aircraft.
The Defence Force aircraft went off the radar after it left the capital, Lolingwe yesterday Monday 10th June 2024.
The plane carrying 51-year-old Vice President Saulos Chilima, former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri, and eight others left the southern African nation’s capital, Lilongwe, at 9:17 a.m. and had been expected to land 45 minutes later at Mzuzu International Airport, about 370 kilometers (230 miles) to the north.
The flight departed at about 9:17 a.m. from Kamuzu International Airport and was headed for Mzuzu International Airport when aviation authorities warned the aircraft to turn around because of poor visibility. The authorities soon lost contact with the plane, which was unable to land due to poor visibility occasioned by bad weather Chakwera said in his address.
In his words, “I know this is a heartbreaking situation. I know we are all frightened and concerned. I too am concerned,” Chakwera said. “But I want to assure you that I am sparing no available resource to find that plane. And I am holding onto every fiber of hope that we will find survivors.”
Soldiers have begun combing through a mountainous region in the East African country’s north, Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera said during a televised address Monday, after a Malawi Defense Force aircraft carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine others went missing on a flight from the nation’s capital, Lilongwe, to the city of Mzuzu, up north.
Aviation officials were unable to contact the aircraft and the president ordered a search and rescue operation to continue the search.
The aircraft was scheduled to land at the Mzuzu International Airport after 10:00 local time (09:00 BST).
Malawi’s President, Lazarus Chakwera cancelled his flight to the Bahamas on Monday evening after the reports of the missing aircraft got to him.
“The public will be updated of any developments on the situation as facts are established,” the president’s office said.
The reason for the aircraft’s disappearance is not yet known, General Valentino Phiri told President Chakwera. Moses Kunkuyu, Malawi’s information minister, told the BBC efforts to find the aircraft are “intensive”.
The Vice President was on his way to represent the government at the burial of the former cabinet minister Ralph Kasambara who passed away three days ago.
Mr. Kunkuyu said: “The airport he was to land, which is in the northern part of Mzuzu, was the closest to where the funeral was taking place.”
The vice president was on his way to attend the funeral of the former attorney general and minister of justice, Raphael Kasambara, who died June 7.
Source: www.bbc.com , www.apnews.com , www.reuters.com ,
