Malawi announces 21 days of mourning after vice president dies in plane crash

Malawi has declared a state funeral and 21 days of mourning to honour vice president Saulos Chilima and eight others who died in a plane crash.

The 21 days of national mourning were announced on Tuesday by President Lazarus Chakwera, after the wreckage of the plane that had been carrying nine people was discovered with no survivors.

It had been flying in bad weather and disappeared on Monday.

Hundreds of soldiers, police officers and forest rangers searched for over 24 hours before the wreckage was discovered in a forest plantation of Mzuzu, a city north of the country.

The victims were later transported from the twin propeller aircraft to capital Lilongwe.

Mourners including President Chakwera and Chilima’s wife gathered at the airport where the bodies arrived as soldiers lined the tarmac and saluted.

A date for the state funeral has not yet been announced, however President Chakwera has appointed a ministerial committee to oversee preparations for it, the government said in a statement.

Flags will fly at half-staff across the nation during the mourning period for Chilima, who was considered a potential candidate for next year’s elections.

Other victims included former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri and the ex-wife of former Malawian President Bakili Muluzi.

The full group of six passengers and three military crew members were killed on impact when the plane went down in the hilly, forested area, the President said in a live broadcast on Tuesday.

Air traffic controllers had told the plane not to land in Mzuzu because of bad weather and poor visibility. The crew was instructed to return to Lilongwe, but air traffic controllers lost contact with it and it disappeared from the radar.