BLANTYRE, Malawi — Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima and nine others, including former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri, died in a military plane crash, President Lazarus Chakwera announced on Tuesday.
The aircraft went missing on Monday and was later found completely destroyed near a hill with no survivors. President Chakwera expressed deep sorrow, calling the incident a “terrible tragedy.”
The plane had departed from Lilongwe at 9:17 a.m. local time (0717 GMT) on Monday and was scheduled to land at Mzuzu airport at 10:02 a.m. Poor visibility forced the plane to return to Lilongwe, but it lost radar contact shortly after.
All passengers on board were killed on impact, and the military is now working to return their remains to the capital. Despite the aircraft’s reliable track record and the experienced crew, something went disastrously wrong, causing the crash and devastating the nation.
Images from the crash site show rescue teams amidst the wreckage of the Dornier 228-202K military transport plane, with its tail number MAF T03 still visible.
