By Halimah Olamide
There are reports that an aircraft conveying Malawi’s Vice President, Saulos Klaus Chilima and nine others has gone missing.
Malawi’s presidency disclosed the information in a statement, revealing that the Malawi Defense Force aircraft “went off the radar” after it left the capital, Lilongwe, on Monday morning
“All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the Aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far”
Chilima, 51, was aboard a Malawi Defense Force aircraft that left the capital Lilongwe at 09:17 a.m. (0717 GMT), it said, adding that search and rescue operations were ongoing.
Therefore, The president ordered a search and rescue operation after aviation officials could not contact the aircraft.
According to the statement, the aircraft had been scheduled to land at Mzuzu International Airport at 10:00 a.m.
Other passengers on the flight include Dr Chilima’s wife Mary, former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri and several officials from the vice-president’s United Transformation Movement (UTM) party.
“The public will be updated on any developments on the situation as facts are established,” the president’s office said.
As of the time of filing this report, the cause of the disappearance remains unknown.
Meanwhile, Mr Chakwera. Moses Kunkuyu, Malawi’s information minister, has revealed that efforts to find the aircraft are in place.
According to information gathered by NPO Reports, Mr Chilima was on his way to represent the government at the burial of former cabinet minister Ralph Kasambara, who died three days ago.