Military plane carrying Malawi’s vice-president missing

A military plane carrying Saulos Chilima, Malawi’s vice-president, and nine others has gone missing.

Authorities said a search is underway.

A statement from President Lazarus Chakwera’s office said aviation authorities lost contact with the plane when it “went off radar” on Monday.

“All efforts to make contact with the aircraft since it went off radar have failed thus far,” the statement reads.

The plane carrying the 51-year-old vice-president had left Lilongwe, the capital, but failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu International Airport.

The statement said Chakwera cancelled a trip to the Bahamas and ordered national and local authorities to “conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft”.