Malawi vice president confirmed dead after plane disappears

A world leader is among 10 people confirmed dead after their plane vanished in bad weather.

The vice president of Malawi is among 10 people who have been killed in a plane crash.

Saulos Klaus Chilima, his wife Mary and Malawi’s former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri (Muluzi) were on board along with numerous other politicians.

There was a desperate search for the plane but sadly President Lazarus Chakwera has confirmed the wreckage has been found and there are no survivors.

“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,” the president said.

The plane, which took off just after 9am local time, failed to land due to bad weather, according to the leader who was speaking in a televised address to the nation.

Malawi's reinstated Vice President Saulos Chilima has died. Picture: AFP

The group was travelling on a military aircraft from the capital Lilongwe over 370 kilometres to the city of Mzuzu for the funeral of a former cabinet minister Ralph Kasambara who died last week of heart failure.

The president said the aircraft was found “completely destroyed” in the Chikangawa Forest, adding it was “heartbreaking”.

He paid tribute to his VP, calling him “a good man, a devoted father and husband, and a patriotic citizen who served his country with distinction.”

Chilima served as vice president of Malawi for a decade. Picture: AFP

Mr Chakwera said various countries including the US, Britain, Norway and Israel all offered support “in different capacities”.

President of the Republic of Malawi Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has lost his vice president. Picture: AFP

“Including the use of specialised technologies that will enhance capacity to find the plane sooner,” Mr Chakwera said.

He said that a telecommunication signal located the plane within a 10 kilometre radius of Riaply, a timber milling company in the poor southern African nation located south of Mzuzu.

First elected vice-president in 2014, the charismatic yet stern-talking 51-year-old was widely loved in Malawi, particularly among youth.

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.

Chilima previously held senior roles at companies including Unilever, Coca-Cola and Carlsberg.

– with AFP