Nairobi, 11 June 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Malawian Vice President Saulos Chilima has died in a plane crash.

President Lazarus Chakwera announced on Tuesday that the military aircraft with Chilima and nine other people on board, which had been missing since Monday, had now been found in the Chikangawa forest north of the capital Lilongwe.

There were no survivors in the completely destroyed aircraft, Chakwera said in a televised address. He spoke of a terrible tragedy and honoured Chilima as an exemplary politician and human being.

Chilima and his companions had taken off from Lilongwe on Monday morning, but due to bad weather conditions the air control authority had recommended a return to Lilongwe shortly before the planned landing at their destination. Radio contact with the pilots was then lost and the aircraft disappeared from the radar.

The cause of the crash was still unclear on Tuesday. "Something terrible went wrong with this aircraft," said Chakwera, who had only just flown on board the ill-fated plane himself.

Chilima, 51, had planned to stand as a presidential candidate in the elections scheduled for September 2025.

MIA file photo