MZUZU-(MaraviPost)-Malawi Vice President Saulos Chilima alongside nine others have been declared dead following military plane crash in Chikangawa forest in the northern district of Mzimba.
President Lazarus Chakwera on Tuesday, June 10, 2024 announced Chilima and nine others’ death.
This publication understands that the plane carrying the deceased failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu International Airport at 10:02, on Monday, June and on its return to Lilongwe and crashed in the thick forest.
In a national address, Chakwera said the plane is completely destroyed and all passengers on board were killed on impact.
“I can imagine how much pain and anguish people must be feeling at this time. I can imagine how much pain and anguish people will be feeling in the coming days and weeks, we feel pain and helpless at the loss of our beloved one,” he said
Chakwera adds, “Words cannot describe how heartbreaking this is, and I can only imagine how much pain and anguish you all must be feeling at this time, as well as how much pain and anguish you all will be feeling in the coming days and weeks as we mourn this terrible loss.
“I also know that going through a terrible loss like this makes us feel helpless and lost, as death has a way of reminding us that we do not have control over so many things that affect our lives and those we love”.
He said further, “We feel helpless because we know that the people who perished in this tragic and terrible accident could have been any one of us, and we feel helpless because a day like today reminds us that one day and any day death will in fact come for each one of us and we will be powerless to stop it.
“That aircraft is an aircraft I myself has used on similar trips, an aircraft that others had used just the day before, and an aircraft that the crew had operated successfully just hours before”.
Chakwera mourns, “And yet despite the track record of the aircraft and the experience of the crew, something terrible went wrong with that aircraft on its flight back to Lilongwe, sending it crashing down and killing everyone on board and leaving us all devastated and asking ourselves questions whose answers cannot take away the pain and helplessness we feel from this loss.
“I know that it is natural for the pain and helplessness this tragedy causes to make us feel angry because we feel hurt and wounded, and I want you to know that I understand these feelings because I feel them too. So because we are all feeling these things, it is important that we comfort each other now and in the weeks to come as we mourn together,” he said
Earlier, Malawi Defense Force (MDF) Commander General Paul Valentino Phiri announced that a 200-Company class troop was deployed to Chikangawa Forest to search for the plane.
During a media briefing in Lilongwe on Tuesday, General Phiri stated that nothing had been found in the search which commenced on Monday.
Phiri mentioned that challenging weather, difficult terrains, and various interferences are hampering the operation.
But also earlier in the morning, UTM party told the media briefing that the crashed plane did not have a responder that connects with radar for signals which raised eye brows on the incident.
More to come…
