Search operation is still ongoing after a military plane carrying Vice President of Malawi Saulos Chilima and nine other top government officials including the former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri, went missing on June 10, 2024.
A statement from the president’s office indicated that the Malawi Defense Force Aircraft went off the radar after it left the capital, Lilongwe, on Monday morning.
Malawi President, Lazarus Chakwera, said that a search was ongoing and that soldiers have been dispatched in search of them and won’t stop until the plane is found.
“Soldiers are still on the ground carrying out the search and I have given strict orders that the operation should continue until the plane is found,” he said.
Reportedly, the plane carrying the 51-year-old Vice President Saulos Chilima, former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri and eight others had been expected to land 45 minutes later at Mzuzu International Airport, about 370 kilometers (230 miles) to the north.
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“Air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft and it disappeared from radar a short time later,” said President Lazarus Chakwera in a live broadcast.
Malawi President Address
In a speech that sought to calm the public, Chakwera noted that the situation was heartbreaking and frightening assuring the people of Malawi that he would allocate every available resource into finding the plane.
“I know this is a heartbreaking situation. I know we are all frightened and concerned. I too am concerned, but I want to assure you that I am sparing no available resource to find that plane. And I am holding onto every fiber of hope that we will find survivors.”
Chakwera provided further information stating that the group was traveling to attend the funeral of a former government minister, Ralph Kasambara, who had died three days ago. Three of those onboard were the military crew flying the plane.
Malawi’s information officer, Moses Kunkuyu, said that the airport the plane was to land closest to where the funeral was taking place.
“The airport he was to land, which is in the northern part of Mzuzu, was the closest to where the funeral was taking place,” Kunkuyu provided.
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He added that the efforts to find the aircraft were intensive.
Chakwera acknowledged that the U.S., the U.K., Norway and Israel had offered assistance in the search operation and had provided specialized technologies that the president hoped would help find the plane sooner.
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