Malawi Plane Crash, No Survivors, Says Malawi President.
–Vice President, 9 Others Onboard.
The crashed plane carrying the Vice President of Malawi, Saulos Chilima and 9 others has been found without any survivors.
The plane was found by Malawian searchers on Tuesday 11, a day after it went missing due to bad weather.
The group departed just after 9:00 am (0700 GMT) from Lilongwe on Monday to attend the funeral of a former cabinet minister some 370 kilometres (230 miles) away in Mzuzu includes Malawi’s former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri who was also on board.
The military plane carrying Chilima,51, and nine others disappeared on Monday June 10, after it failed to land in the northern city of Mzuzu due to poor visibility and was told to return to the Capita, Lolongwe.
Speaking in a televised address, the country’s president, Lazarus Chekwas said that there had been no survivors when a plane carrying the Vice President and nine others crashed into a forest.
“The plane has been found and I am deeply saddened and sorry to inform you all, it has turned out to be a terrible tragedy,” he said.
According to a military source, Malawian searchers have found the wreckage of a plane that was carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima, on Tuesday, a day after the aircraft went missing in bad weather.
Photographs shared with AFP by a member of the military rescue team showed army personnel standing on a foggy slope near debris bearing the registration number of the Malawi Army Air Wing Dornier 228-202K aircraft.
Rescuers had been combing a fog-cloaked forest south of Mzuzu on Tuesday, after authorities located the last tower it transmitted to before the plane disappeared.
Earlier, army commander General Paul Valentino Phiri said other countries, including Malawi’s neighbors, had been aiding the search effort, with support including helicopters and drones.
