Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima speaks at a press conference in February 2020. (AMOS GUMULIRA / AFP)
- The search continued for Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima and nine others after their plane disappeared on Monday morning.
- Malawi asked for assistance from neighbouring countries, as well as the United States, Israel, Britain, and Norway.
- The plane signal was traced to a woodland area.
The government of Malawi has asked for help from neighbouring countries and development partners in the search for a military aircraft that went missing carrying the country’s Vice President, Saulos Klaus Chilima, and nine others, on Monday.
In a televised address to the nation, President Lazarus Chakwera said he was “sparing no available resource to find that plane, and I am holding on to every fibre of hope that we will find survivors.”
Hichilema said he had already asked for help.
“We have already contacted our neighbouring countries, as well as development partners, including the US government, the British government, the Norwegian government, and the Israeli government, who have all offered support in different forms, including the use of specialised technologies that will enhance our capacity to find the plane sooner, and I am most grateful for this support,” he said.
The president asked Malawians to be prayerful.
The military aircraft was carrying mourners to Mzuzu for the funeral of former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Ralph Kasambara.
The plane was due to return to Lilongwe before Chakwera left on a working visit to the Bahamas.
It is traditional in Malawi that senior government officials see off the head of state when he travels abroad; they also welcome him back in a similar fashion.
Poor visibility brought on by bad weather prevented the plane from landing. The flight was told to return to Lilongwe by aviation officials, but they soon lost communication with the plane.
Chakwera said he was briefed by the search team at 3PM that signals from telecommunication towers in the area located the plane somewhere within a 10km radius of Raiply, a wood plantation.
On the plane with Chilima was with Lukas Kapheni, Chisomo Chimaneni, Gloria Mtukule, Shanil Dzimbiri, Dan Kanyemba, and Abdul Lapukeni.
It was operated by Colonel Sambalopa, Major Selemani, and Major Aidin, from the Malawian Defence Forces (MDF).
The News24 Africa Desk is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation. The stories produced through the Africa Desk and the opinions and statements that may be contained herein do not reflect those of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
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Source link : https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/malawi-asks-for-assistance-from-neighbours-partners-in-search-for-chilimas-plane-20240611
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Publish date : 2024-06-11 01:20:59