Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera said that the plane carrying the country’s Vice-President Saulos Klaus Chilima had crashed, killing everyone on board, including Chilima.
Chilima, 51, was aboard a military aircraft with nine others, which had left Malawi’s capital Lilongwe and was expected to land at Mzuzu Airport, Malawi’s Office of the President and Cabinet said in an earlier statement.
The plane was unable to land at the airport due to poor visibility and was ordered to return to the capital on Monday, President Chakwera had said in a televised address to the nation.
A major search operation was carried out in a 10 km radius in a forest reserve to find the aircraft, the President had said.
The President had said that Malawi had reached out to neighbouring countries, and the US, Britain, Norway and the Israeli governments for support in the rescue efforts.
Chilima, seen as a potential candidate in the next presidential election, was arrested in 2022 over graft allegations.
However, a Malawi court dropped the corruption charges against him last month after the director of public prosecutions filed a notice for the case to be discontinued. Chilima has denied any wrongdoing.