Aircraft Carrying Malawi Vice President, Saulos Chilima, Goes Missing
A military plane carrying Malawi’s Vice President, Saulos Chilima, and nine others went missing on Monday, the president’s office has said.
In a statement, the Malawian Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Colleen Zamba said the plane left the capital Lilongwe just after 9.15 AM on Monday and headed for Mzuzu, in the north, but didn’t land as scheduled. Reads the statement:
The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to inform the general public that the Malawi Defense Force Aircraft that left Lilongwe today, Monday 10th June 2024 at 09:17 Hours, carrying the Vice President, the Right Honourable Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima, and nine others, failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu International Airport at 10:02. All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the Aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far.
As such, the Commander of the Malawi Defense Force, General Valentino Phiri, has since informed His Excellency Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera of the incident and the President has since cancelled his scheduled departure for the Bahamas and ordered all regional and national agencies to conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft.
The public will be updated of any developments on the situation as facts are established.