A military plane carrying the vice president of Malawi and nine others went missing Monday, and the president’s office said a search is underway.
Fifty-one-year-old Vice President Saulos Chilima left the southern African nation’s capital, Lilongwe, at 9.17 a.m., according to ABC News. It was scheduled to land 45 minutes later at the Mzuzu International Airport about 370 kilometers (230 miles) to the north, but never arrived, the outlet reported.
Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera’s office explained in a statement that aviation authorities lost contact with the plane, according to ABC. (RELATED: Authorities Find Body Of Missing Famous TV Doctor On Greek Island: REPORT)
“All efforts to make contact with the aircraft since it went off radar have failed thus far,” the president’s office said, the outlet reported.
Gen. Valentino Phiri, the head of Malawian armed forces, informed Chakwera about the missing plane, ABC noted. In response, the president ordered national and local authorities to “conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft,” the president’s office said, according to the outlet.
NEW: A military plane carrying Malawi’s vice president and nine others went missing Monday. A search is underway, the president’s office said. https://t.co/NXftiEu8cx
— ABC News (@ABC) June 10, 2024
Chilima had been facing corruption charges stemming from allegations that he received money in return for influencing the awarding of government contracts, but prosecutors dropped the charges last month, the outlet reported.
The search is still ongoing.
