The military plane carrying the Vice President of Malawi, Saulos Chilima, and nine others crashed, leaving no survivors after a search that lasted more than a day. Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera announced in a live address on state television on Tuesday about the plane wreckage in a mountainous area in the north of the country.
On Monday morning, the news of the Vice President’s disappearance surfaced resulting in a search by hundreds of soldiers, police officers and forest rangers for the plane. The plane also carried a former First Lady making the 45-minute flight from the southern African nation’s capital, Lilongwe, to the city of Mzuzu, around 370 kilometres (230 miles) to the north.
According to PTI, Air traffic controllers instructed the plane not to attempt landing at Mzuzu’s airport due to bad weather and poor visibility, advising it to return to Lilongwe, Chakwera reported. Subsequently, air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft, and it disappeared from radar, he added.
On board were seven passengers and three military crew members. The president identified the aircraft as a small, propeller-driven plane operated by the Malawian armed forces. The tail number he provided indicates it is a Dornier 228-type twin-propeller plane delivered to the Malawian army in 1988, according to the aircraft tracking website ch-aviation.
Authorities reported that around 600 personnel were involved in the search within a vast forest plantation in the Viphya Mountains near Mzuzu.
Chilima was serving his second term as vice president, having also held the role from 2014 to 2019 under former President Peter Mutharika. He ran in the 2019 Malawian presidential election and finished third, behind the incumbent Mutharika and Chakwera. The Constitutional Court of Malawi later annulled the vote due to irregularities.
Source link : https://www.financialexpress.com/world-news/malawis-vice-president-saulos-chilim-9-others-died-in-plane-crash/3521811/lite/
Author :
Publish date : 2024-06-11 11:09:09
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
