Fears are rising over the fate of Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima following reports of a crash landing in Chikangawa Forest. His helicopter unable to touch down at Mzuzu Airport, went off radar this morning. Emergency teams are conducting a thorough search and rescue operation in the dense forest.
Sources indicated that Chilima was aboard a Malawi Defence Force chopper to attend a funeral of lawyer Ralph Kasambara. However, the plane failed to land at the airport due to bad weather.
It was on return that the plane is feared to have crashed. According to sources, a crash was eyewitnessed in the Chikangawa forest area. It is believed that it is the plane carrying Chilima.
Government has confirmed that authorities have lost contact with the place since 10am.
“The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to inform the general public that the Malawi Defense Force Aircraft that left Lilongie today, Monday 10th June 2024 at 09:17 Hours, carrying the Vice President, the Right Honourable Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima, and nine others, failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu International Airport at 10:02.
“All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the Aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far. As such, the Commander of the Malawi Defense Force, General Valentino Phiri, has since informed His Excellency Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera of the incident”, Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Collen Zimba, has said in a statement.
Meanwhile, government has also confirmed that President Lazarus Chakwera has cancelled his trip to the Bahamas due to the incident.
“President Chakwera has since canceled his scheduled departure for the Bahamas and ordered all regional and national agencies to conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft” added Zimba.
Other sources have said that Chilima’s phone was last available at around 10:30 am this morning. The plane was expected back in Lilongwe at most an hour after return from Mzuzu.
