Saulos Chilima: Aircraft Carrying Malawi Vice President And 9 Others Goes Missing
- On Monday, June 10, the military plane carrying the Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima failed to make a scheduled landing
- A statement from the secretary of the president indicated that the plane left the capital, Lilongwe, at 9:17am, but failed to land at Mzuzu International Airport
- Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera ordered a search and rescue operation after aviation officials were unable to contact the aircraft
A military aircraft carrying Malawi's Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine others has gone missing.
A statement from the president's office indicated that the Malawi Defence Force aircraft "went off the radar" after leaving the capital, Lilongwe, on Monday, June 10.
Where was Saulos Chilima's plane supposed to land?
According to the statement, the plane carrying Chilima and nine other passengers failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu International Airport at 10.02am.
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Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera ordered a search and rescue operation after aviation officials were unable to contact the aircraft.
The incident has forced Malawi's president to cancel his scheduled flight to the Bahamas.
"As such the Commander of the Malawi Defence Forces, Gen Valentino Phiri, has since informed his Excellency Dr Lazarus Chakwera of the incident, and the president has since cancelled his departures for the Bahamas," the statement read.
How Iran President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash
The incident comes less than a month after Iran President Ebrahim Raisi died after his chopper crashed near Jolfa in East Azerbaijan province on Sunday, May 19.
Among the other killed passengers were eight high-ranking officials, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem, the representative of the Iranian supreme leader to the province.
Despite the crash occurring at 1pm, locating the downed helicopter and its occupants proved challenging, prolonging the rescue mission until the dawn hours of Monday, May 20.
Raisi had participated in the inauguration of a dam with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on May 18.
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Source: TUKO.co.ke
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Peter Ansah (Entertainment Editor) Ansah Peter is an entertainment editor who joined YEN.com.gh in September 2023. He studied Development Planning at KNUST, graduating in 2018. His professional career in entertainment journalism dates eight years back as a showbiz and arts blogger for the now-defunct motionhypegh.net, continuing to Muse Media Networks, acting as the editorial manager for the network's flagship multimedia platforms. He has also managed several PR roles with top clients, including Morgan Heritage. In 2024, Peter completed Google News Initiative courses in Advanced Digital Reporting and Fighting Misinformation