Malawian Vice President Saulos Chilima
Malawi mourns as VP, nine others killed in plane crash
Malawi is thrown into mourning as Vice President Saulos Chilima is dead along with nine others in a plane crash.
Colleen Samba, the president’s secretary confirmed this on Tuesday, after a massive search operation for the missing plane. The plane was eventually found in Chikangawa Forest, with all its occupants dead.
The Office of the President and Cabinet issued a formal statement detailing the accident to also confirm this.
Earlier, a massive search operation was launched in mountainous forests in northern Malawi after the aircraft carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine others went missing on Monday (June 10).
The plane carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima, former First Lady Shanil Dzimbiri and eight others departed from the capital. But air traffic control in Mzuzu informed the pilots not to try landing and instead to turn around because of bad weather and poor visibility, according to agency reports.
However, air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft and it disappeared from radar a short time later.
Chilima has been vice president since 2014. He earlier led the mobile network Airtel Malawi, as well as worked at Unilever, Coca Cola and Carlsberg, according to his profile on the government’s website.