Malawi military plane carrying country’s vice president goes missing

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A search and rescue operation is being conducted in Malawi on Monday, after a military plane carrying the country’s vice president went missing.

The aircraft carrying Vice President Saulos Chilima disappeared from radar on a small trip from the country’s capital to a large city in its mountainous region, the Associated Press reported. The plane also failed to land 45 minutes later at the Mzuzu International Airport.

“All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far,” a statement from President Lazarus Chakwera’s office said. “[T]he president has since canceled his scheduled departure for the Bahamas and ordered all regional and national agencies to conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft.”

Nine other passengers were also on the plane at the time of its disappearance, but details on the missing passengers have not been disclosed.

Chilima has been facing allegations of corruption, including allegations that he accepted bribes in exchange for influencing the awarding of government contracts. But charges related to these allegations were dropped last month.

The vice president is considered a presidential contender in the country’s election next year, according to Reuters, after he finished third in 2019. He later joined Chakwera’s ticket, which helped solidify the win over the country’s incumbent Peter Mutharika.