A report by Reuters revealed that Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima, one of the potential presidential candidates in Malawi’s 2025 elections, alongside nine others, were aboard a military aircraft that went missing on Monday.
Unfortunately, they were discovered dead inside the wrecked airplane as disclosed by the country’s leader, President Lazarus Chakwera on Tuesday, who also revealed that the victims’ remains were being brought back to their homes by the military.
“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,” the president stated.
The aircraft departed the capital, Lilongwe, at 09:17 a.m. (0717 GMT) on Monday but was unable to land at Mzuzu airport at 10:02 a.m. owing to low visibility.
It received instructions to head back to Lilongwe, but it disappeared off the radar, as aviation authorities were unable to reach it.
“Despite the track record of the aircraft and the experience of the crew, something terrible went wrong with that aircraft on its flight back to Lilongwe, sending it crashing down and leaving us all devastated,” the president added.
