Malawi’s president has appealed for international help to find the aircraft carrying his vice-president, Saulos Chilima, and nine others after it went missing on Monday.
Dr Lazarus Chakwera used a national address from Kamuzu Palace to request assistance from the US, Israel, UK and other development partners as well as neighbouring countries after the defence force aircraft “went off the radar” when it left the capital Lilongwe at 9.17am local time.
It failed to land in Mzuzu, almost 300km (185 miles) north, at its scheduled time of 10.02am.
The president urged prayers for the passengers and said he hoped to find survivors, directing that the search by the Malawian Defense Force must continue through the night.
“All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far,” said an earlier statement from the president’s office. The statement did not specify the type of aircraft.
The president has cancelled a planned visit to the Bahamas.
Chilima, 51, had been due to attend the funeral of Ralph Kasambara, a former minister of justice and attorney general, in the village of Chijere, east of Mzuzu. Kasambara, 55, was found dead after suffering heart failure last Friday, according to a government Facebook post.
Malawi is experiencing heavy rains in some parts of the country, especially the north.
Chilima has been the southern African country’s vice-president since 2014. He previously led the mobile network Airtel Malawi, as well as working at Unilever, Coca-Cola and Carlsberg, according to his profile on the government’s website.
Chilima is married and has two children. He received a PhD in knowledge management from the University of Bolton, according to the government website.
