BREAKING: MALAWI VP’S PLANE WRECKAGE HAS BEEN FOUND, NO SURVIVORS
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Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine other passengers were on board the jet when it crashed into a forest on Tuesday, according to Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera.
“The plane has been found and I am deeply saddened and sorry to inform you all, it has turned out to be a terrible tragedy,” he said, in a televised address.
A day after the jet vanished due to inclement weather, Malawian searchers discovered the wreckage of the aeroplane carrying Chilima on Tuesday.
Due to poor visibility, the military plane carrying Chilima, 51, and nine other people was unable to land in the northern city of Mzuzu and was instructed to return to the capital, Lilongwe. The plane vanished on Monday.
A military rescue team member shared photos of army men standing near debris displaying the Malawi Army Air Wing Dornier 228-202K aircraft’s registration number on a misty slope with AFP.
On Tuesday, rescuers were searching a woodland shrouded in fog to the south of Mzuzu after authorities discovered the final tower the plane had broadcast to before it vanished.
Prior to this, Army Commander General Paul Valentino Phiri stated that drones and helicopters had been used to support the search operation by other nations, including Malawi’s neighbours.
The group left Lilongwe on Monday just after 9:00 a.m. (0700 GMT) to go to Mzuzu, which is around 370 kilometres (230 miles) away, for the funeral of a former cabinet minister.
Shanil Dzimbiri, the former first lady of Malawi, was also present.
First elected vice president in 2014, the charismatic yet stern-talking Chilima is a widely loved figure in Malawi, particularly among young people.
But in 2022, during his second stint in the job, Chilima was stripped of his powers after being arrested and charged with graft over a bribery scandal involving a British-Malawian businessman.
Last month, a Malawian court dropped the charges and he resumed his official duties.
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