Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima speaks at a press conference in February 2020. (AMOS GUMULIRA / AFP)
- The plane that had been carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima was found, with no survivors, President Lazarus Chakwera announced on Tuesday.
Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said Tuesday there had been no survivors when a plane carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine others crashed into a forest.
“The plane has been found and I am deeply saddened and sorry to inform you all, it has turned out to be a terrible tragedy,” he said, in a televised address.
Chakwera said that “something terrible went wrong”, but the circumstances of the crash were not immediately clear.
Rescuers had been combing a fog-cloaked forest south of the city of Mzuzu on Tuesday, after authorities located the last tower it transmitted to before the plane disappeared.
Earlier, army commander General Paul Valentino Phiri said other countries, including Malawi’s neighbours, had been aiding the search effort, with support including helicopters and drones.
The military aircraft was carrying mourners to Mzuzu for the funeral of former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Ralph Kasambara.
Poor visibility saw it ordered to return to Lilongwe. Soon after, contact was lost.
On the plane with Chilima was with Lukas Kapheni, Chisomo Chimaneni, Gloria Mtukule, Shanil Dzimbiri, Dan Kanyemba, and Abdul Lapukeni. The flight crew was Colonel Sambalopa, Major Selemani, and Major Aidin, from the Malawian Defence Forces (MDF).
First elected vice president in 2014, the charismatic yet stern-talking Chilima is a widely loved figure in Malawi, particularly among young people.
But in 2022, during his second stint in the job, Chilima was stripped of his powers after being arrested and charged with graft over a bribery scandal involving a British-Malawian businessman.Last month, a Malawian court dropped the charges and he resumed his official duties.
Chilima had been expected to be a presidential candidate in elections due in 2025.
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Source link : https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/news/no-survivors-in-malawi-vps-plane-crash-president-20240611
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Publish date : 2024-06-11 13:08:37