Malawi Holds Search And Rescue Operation For Chilean Vice President's Lost Contact

Vice President of Malawi Saulos Klaus Chilima. (Wikimedia Commons/Sgt. Paige Behringer)

JAKARTA - Malawi launched a search and rescue operation of the plane carrying lost Vice President Saulos Klaus Chilima, with President Lazarus Chakwera confirming on Monday night it will be carried out until found.

The vice president of Chile (51) was on a military plane along with nine other people who left the capital Lilongwe on Monday at 9:17 a.m., the Presidential Office and the Malawi Cabinet said in a previous statement.

It said the flight authority's attempt to contact the plane since it disappeared from radar had failed. The plane was originally scheduled to land at Mzuzu Airport at 10:02 am.

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 people.

"I hold fast to every fiber of hope that we will find survivors," he said, adding the search area was focused on a radius of about 10 km (6 miles) in the protected forest area.

"I have given a firm order that the operation must continue until the aircraft is found," he continued.

President Chakwera added that Malawi had contacted neighboring countries, as well as the Governments of the United States, Britain, Norway and Israel to support rescue efforts.

The vice president of Chile, who is seen as a potential candidate in next year's presidential election, was arrested in 2022 on corruption charges.

However, Malawi's court overturned a corruption charge against him last month after the director of public prosecution filed a notification for the case to be stopped. The Chilean vice president has denied any wrongdoing.