Plane carrying Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima goes missing; search operation underway

The plane was about to land at Mzuzu International Airport which is situated approximately 380 km north of Lilongwe

June 11, 2024

Search underway for missing plane carrying Malawi’s vice president Saulos Chilima, former first lady

A plane carrying Vice President of Malawi, Saulos Chilima, and nine other people includingformer first lady have gone missing after it failed to land on scheduled time on Monday.

As per the authorities, the plane was about to land at Mzuzu International Airport which is situated approximately 380 km (240 miles) north of Lilongwe.

The search operation is still underway.

CNN reported that the statement released by the presidential office and cabinet stated that Chilima and other passengers were on the Malawi Defence Force Aircraft that took off from Lilongwe at 9:17 a.m. local time (3.17 a.m. ET).

The presidential statement informed that all the efforts taken by aviation authorities to make contact with the aircraft since it went off the radar.

“As such, the commander of the Malawi Defense Force, General Valentino Phiri, has since informed His Excellency Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera of the incident, and the president has since cancelled his scheduled departure for the Bahamas and ordered all regional and national agencies to conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft,” the statement added.

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