By Frank Phiri, BLANTYRE
Malawi
Search and rescue operations will continue until the missing aircraft carrying Malawi's vice president, Saulos Klaus Chilima, is found, the southern African nation's president said late on Monday.
Chilima, 51, was aboard a
military aircraft with nine others that left Lilongwe, the capital, at 09:17
a.m. (0717 GMT), Malawi's Office of the President and Cabinet said in an
earlier statement.
It said efforts by aviation
authorities to make contact with the aircraft since it went off the radar had
failed. The plane had been scheduled to land at Mzuzu Airport at 10:02 a.m.
ALSO READ: Aircraft carrying Malawi vice-president goes missing
The plane was unable to land
at the airport due to poor visibility and was ordered to return to the capital,
President Lazarus Chakwera said in a televised address to the nation.
"I'm holding on to every
fibre of hope that we'll find survivors," he said, adding that the search
area was concentrated around a 10 km (6 mile) radius in a forest reserve.
"I have given strict
orders that the operation should continue until the plane is found."
He said Malawi had reached out
to neighbouring countries, and the U.S., Britain, Norway and the Israeli
governments for support in the rescue efforts.
Chilima, seen as a potential
candidate in next year's 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.
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