Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima has been killed in a plane crash along with nine other passengers, President Lazarus Chakwera announced on Tuesday.
The aircraft went missing after failing to land at Mzuzu International Airport, located about 380 km (240 miles) north of the capital Lilongwe. The wreckage was discovered in the Chikangawa Forest near a hill, and the plane was found completely destroyed.
“The search and rescue operation I ordered to find the missing plane that carried our vice president and nine others has been completed. The plane has been found. And I am deeply saddened and sorry to inform you that it has turned out to be a terrible tragedy,” Chakwera said in a national address.
President Chakwera expressed profound sorrow over the incident, stating, “Words cannot describe how heartbreaking this is.”