A military aircraft conveying Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima has been reported missing after it failed to make a landing on Monday morning, the government said.
“All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far,” the government said in a statement.
Reports gathered that the plane, which took off just after 9:00 am local time (0700 GMT), was carrying 51-year-old Chilima and nine others.
President Lazarus Chakwera ordered regional and national forces to conduct an “immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft,” the statement said.
That being said , Chakwera has canceled his planned working visit to the Bahamas to manage the crisis.
The disappearance of Vice President Chilima occurs amid political turbulence in Malawi.
In 2022, Chilima was stripped of his powers following his arrest and charges of graft involving a British-Malawian businessman.
However, a Malawian court dropped the charges last month after Chilima attended several court appearances.
The nation anxiously awaits updates as search and rescue efforts continue to locate the missing plane and its passengers.
