Malawi’s Vice-President, Saulos Chilima, and nine others, including former First Lady Shanil Dzimbiri, have been killed in a plane crash, President Lazarus Chakwera has announced. The group went missing on Monday after the military plane carrying them to the funeral of a former government minister disappeared in a mountainous region north of the country. Air traffic controllers had advised the plane to avoid landing at Mzuzu airport due to bad weather and to return to the capital, Lilongwe. Contact was lost shortly after and search and rescue operations, aided by the US, the UK, Norway, and Israel, began shortly after with the president Lazarus expressing hopes they would be found safely. Chilima, a former business executive, had served as vice-president since 2020 and was previously a candidate in the 2019 presidential election. The crash has cast a shadow over the nation, with calls for prayers for the victims and their families.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN