Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima has been killed in a plane crash along with nine other passengers, the country’s President Lazarus Chakwera announced Tuesday.
The aircraft went missing after it failed to land at the Mzuzu International Airport, about 380 km (240 miles) to the north of the capital Lilongwe. The plane’s wreckage has been located, Chakwera said in an address to the nation.
“The search and rescue operation I ordered to find the missing plane that carried our vice president and nine others has been completed. The plane has been found. And I am deeply saddened and sorry to inform you that it has turned out to be a tragedy,” Chakwera said.
The Malawian leader disclosed that the aircraft was found “destroyed” near a hill in the Chikangawa Forest in northern Malawi, adding that “words cannot describe how heartbreaking this is.”
Chakwera paid tribute to his deputy, describing him as “a good man, a devoted father and husband, (and) a patriotic citizen who served his country with distinction.”
On Monday evening, the president had told journalists that air traffic control had advised the vice president’s plane against trying to land and recommended turning back to the capital due to poor visibility. Not long after, the authorities lost contact with the aircraft and started a search operation.
