Vice President of Malawi Chilima and nine others died in a plane crash

Malawi Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima and nine other people died in a plane crash, President Lazarus Chakwera confirmed on Tuesday.

A military plane carrying Chilima, seen as a potential candidate in next year’s presidential elections, went missing on Monday.

“I am deeply saddened and sad to inform you all that this has turned out to be a terrible tragedy. A search and rescue team found the plane near a hill. It was found completely destroyed, no one survived,” he added. Chakwera said in his address to the nation.

The plane departed the capital Lilongwe at 09:17 (07:17 GMT) on Monday but was unable to land at Mzuzu Airport as planned at 10:02 due to poor visibility.

He was ordered to return to Lilongwe, but he disappeared from radar and aviation authorities lost contact with him.

Chakwera said all passengers on board died on impact and the military was transporting their remains back to the capital.

“Despite the history of the aircraft and the experience of the crew, something terrible happened to the aircraft on the flight back to Lilongwe and it crashed, leaving us all devastated,” he said.

Chilima (51) was arrested in 2022 on corruption charges. However, last month the court dismissed the charges against him after the Director of Public Prosecutions submitted a notice discontinuing the case. Chilima denied committing the crime.