- Nine other individuals and Vice President Dr. Saulos Chilima of Malawi perished in the crash of a military aircraft in the Chikangawa mountain range. The military aircraft crashed on June 10, 2024, upon takeoff from Lilongwe, the nation’s capital. Due to low visibility, the jet vanished from radar and was unable to make a landing at Mzuzu airport. When the plane vanished, the pilot was told to head back to Lilongwe.
- Chilima was onboard a tiny military aircraft, which the Associated Press said to be a twin-propeller Dornier 228-type aircraft that was supplied to the Malawian army in 1988, together with two other passengers and seven military commanders. Chilima’s wife was not aboard the plane, according to certain Malawian sources who spoke with CBS News; however, the administration did not immediately provide an update on her condition or location.
- Chilima, 51, was thought to be a potential candidate for Malawi’s presidential election in the following year. He was detained in 2022 on charges of bribery following information that he had accepted bribes for government contracts from a businessman. Up until the national prosecutor dismissed the accusations against him last month, he had continuously disputed the allegations.
- Tuesday was designated as a national day of mourning by President Lazarus Chakwera in a nationally televised speech. The United States was one of the nations that contributed technology to the search effort. The U.S. Embassy in Lilongwe expressed on social media that it was “deeply concerned” about the incident and that it was offering all support, including a Defense C-12 aircraft.
Source:
CBS News
