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12-06-2024
LILONGWE: Rescue teams in Malawi have found the wreckage of a plane that was carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima but reported that there were no survivors.
The remains of the military plane were located on Tuesday in a mountainous area in the north of the country, a day after it went missing in bad weather.
President Lazarus Chakwera later said in a televised address that none of the 10 people on board including the 51-year-old Chilima had survived after the aircraft crashed into a forest.
Seven passengers, including a former first lady, and three military crew members were on board.
The plane left the capital, Lilongwe, on Monday but failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu international airport about 370km (230 miles) to the north about 45 minutes later.
After the recovery of plane debris, President Chakwera said, “I’m deeply saddened. I’m sorry to inform you all that it has turned out to be a terrible tragedy. The search and rescue team has found the aircraft near a hill … they have found it completely destroyed with no survivors.”
Chilima, serving his second term as vice president after swapping his support from Chakwera’s rival former President Peter Mutharika for the election in 2020, was seen as a potential candidate in next year’s presidential election.
That is despite an arrest in 2022 over allegations of bribery linked to supply contracts for the police and armed forces.
However, a court dropped the charges last month after the public prosecution director filed a notice for the case to be discontinued. Chilima had also denied wrongdoing. Critics say the case shows that Chakwera is not serious about his promises to fight corruption.
The wreck of a plane carrying Malawi’s Vice-President (VP) has been found with no survivors, President Lazarus Chakwera has said.
Saulos Chilima and nine others were flying within the country on Monday morning when their aircraft disappeared from airport radars.
The plane, a military aircraft, was flying in bad weather.
Soldiers had been searching Chikangawa Forest overnight and into the morning in an effort to find the plane.
In a news briefing on Tuesday, President Chakwera said the Malawi Defence Force commander informed him that the search and rescue operation has been completed and the plane was found.
Chakwera said he was “deeply saddened and sorry” to inform Malawians of the terrible tragedy.
He said the rescue team found the aircraft completely destroyed.
The vice-president who was plucked from business
The vice-president and president come from different parties but the two teamed up to form an alliance during the 2020 elections.
Chakwera paid tribute to Dr Chilima, describing him as “a good man”, “devoted father” and “formidable VP”.
“I consider it one of the great honors of my life to have had him as a deputy and as a counsellor,” he added.
Dr Chilima, 51, was on his way to represent the government at the burial of former government minister Ralph Kasambara, who died four days ago.
Former First Lady Shanil Dzimbiri was also on the flight, which took off from the capital, Lilongwe, on Monday morning.
It was meant to land at the airport in the northern city of Mzuzu, but was turned back because of poor visibility. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
