A search is underway for a lacking plane carrying the vice chairman of the southeastern African nation of Malawi and 9 different folks, the nation’s authorities stated on Monday.
The vice chairman, Saulos Chilima, was touring on a Malawi Protection Pressure plane that took off at 9:17 a.m. Monday from the capital, Lilongwe. But it surely missed a schedule touchdown at an airport within the north of the nation, lower than an hour’s flight away.
The plane was unable to land due to poor visibility attributable to dangerous climate, Malawi’s president, Lazarus Chakwera, stated in a televised tackle. The pilot was instructed to show again, however inside minutes, the plane disappeared from radar and the aviation authorities have been unable to ascertain contact with it.
“I do know that this can be a heartbreaking state of affairs,” Mr. Chakwera stated in a late briefing. “I do know that we’re all frightened and anxious.”
The president deployed a search and rescue operation that included each nationwide and regional companies, the federal government stated in an announcement. By the afternoon, rescuers had narrowed the potential crash web site to a six-mile radius.
As darkness fell, army and law enforcement officials continued the search by car and on foot, however struggled to comb via the thick forests in Malawi’s north, native information media reported. Regardless of these challenges, the search would proceed till the airplane was discovered, Mr. Chakwera stated.
His authorities additionally reached out to neighboring international locations in southern Africa for help. They had been working with officers from america, Britain,Norway and Israel who might supply technological assist, he added.
The vice chairman was on his approach to attend the funeral of the nation’s former lawyer normal, Ralph Kasambara.
Mr. Chilima, 51, was a telecommunications govt earlier than coming into Malawi’s political scene a decade in the past. In late 2022, he turned embroiled in a corruption scandal and was arrested by the nation’s Anti-Corruption Bureau over accusations that he had acquired kickbacks from a businessman in trade for presidency contracts.
He denied any wrongdoing, however the accusations tarnished a authorities that had sworn to wash up corruption in what’s one in every of Africa’s poorest international locations. Final month, the authorities in Malawi deserted the case and withdrew all costs in opposition to Mr. Chilima.
He had been anticipated to launch a bid for the Malawian presidency within the 2025 election.
As soon as political rivals, Mr. Chakwera and Mr. Chilima fashioned a coalition in 2019 after dropping an election marred by irregularities. The 2 candidates efficiently challenged the outcome, and after a judicial panel dominated of their favor, the 2 males received a subsequent second vote in 2020 on the identical ticket.