A plane carrying Malawi’s Vice President, Saulos Chilima, is feared to have crashed in a forest in the north of the country, according to a senior military official.
Chilima and nine others were flying within Malawi on Monday morning when their aircraft vanished from airport radars.
The military aircraft was flying in bad weather conditions when it disappeared. Soldiers are actively searching Chikangawa Forest to locate the plane.
During a press briefing on Tuesday, Malawi Defence Force commander Paul Valentino Phiri reported that dense fog has severely reduced visibility, complicating the search efforts.
President Lazarus Chakwera has emphasized that the mission will continue until the plane is found. In a national address on Monday evening, he stated, “I know that we are all frightened and concerned – I too am concerned. But I want to assure you that I am sparing no available resource to find that plane and I am holding onto every fibre of hope that we will find survivors.”
The United Transformation Movement (UTM), Dr. Chilima’s political party, expressed dissatisfaction with the search operation, claiming that it began at 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT) despite the plane going missing at 10:00.
Vice President Chilima, 51, and President Chakwera are from different political parties but formed an alliance during the 2020 elections. Dr. Chilima was en route to represent the government at the burial of former government minister Ralph Kasambara, who passed away four days prior. Former First Lady Shanil Dzimbiri was also on the flight, which took off from the capital, Lilongwe, on Monday morning. The plane was intended to land in the northern city of Mzuzu but was turned back due to poor visibility.
President Chakwera has reached out to various countries, including the US, UK, Norway, and Israel, all of which have offered support to help find the plane.
Dr. Chilima, who has served as vice president since 2014, is widely admired in Malawi, particularly among the youth.
However, he was arrested and charged in 2022 for allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for awarding government contracts. Last month, the court dropped these charges without explanation. Dr. Chilima is married and has two children.
