Vice-president of Malawi killed in plane crash
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Malawi’s vice-president and nine other people were killed in a plane crash, the country’s president said after rescuers located the wreckage in a fog-shrouded forest.
The military plane carrying Saulos Chilima, 51, disappeared on Monday after it failed to land in the northern city of Mzuzu because of bad weather and was told to return to the capital, Lilongwe.
“The search and rescue team have found the aircraft... completely destroyed with no survivors, as all passengers on board were killed on impact,” Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera said in an address to the nation on Tuesday.
“Words cannot describe how heartbreaking this is,” he said, describing the accident as a “terrible tragedy”.
Rescuers had been combing the forest south of Mzuzu since Monday, 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 group departed from Lilongwe just after 9am local time on Monday to attend the funeral of a former cabinet minister some 230 miles away in Mzuzu.
Malawi’s former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri was also on board.
Mr Chakwera said he had previously flown on the same aircraft for similar trips. The crew had successfully operated it just hours before the accident, he added.
“And yet, despite the track record of the aircraft and the experience of the crew, something terrible went wrong with that aircraft on its flight back to Lilongwe, sending it crashing down,” he said.
First elected vice president in 2014, the charismatic yet stern-talking Mr Chilima was a widely loved figure in Malawi, particularly among young people.
But in 2022, during his second stint in the job, he 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. He was seen as a potential candidate in next year’s presidential election.
“Chilima was a good man, a devoted father and husband, a patriotic citizen who served his country with distinction and a formidable vice president,” Mr Chakwera said.
“I consider it one of the greatest honours of my life to have had him as my deputy and counsellor for the past four years.”
