The military claims the vice president of Malawi’s jet may have crashed in a forest

The military reported on Tuesday that although the aircraft carrying Malawi’s vice president, Saulos Klaus Chilima, may have fallen in a deep jungle, it has not yet been located.

Top military official Paul Valentino Phiri informed reporters that vision was being affected by fog in the Chikangawa Forest, which was impeding search and rescue efforts.

Chilima, 51, and nine other people were on a military plane that departed Lilongwe, the country’s capital, at 09:17 a.m. (0717 GMT) on Monday.

President Lazarus Chakwera told the country on television on Monday that the plane, which was supposed to land at Mzuzu airport at 10:02 a.m., was unable to land because of bad visibility and was told to return to the capital.

Since the aircraft vanished from radar, aviation officials have been unable to get in touch with it.

According to Malawi’s communications minister, the nation has requested assistance in locating the aircraft from Angola’s space agency.

Chilima was detained in 2022 on charges of graft, and he was considered as a possible contender for the presidency the following year.

However, a notification to terminate the case was issued by the director of public prosecutions, and as a result, a Malawian court withdrew the accusations against him last month. Chilima has refuted any misconduct.