A Malawi military helicopter carrying the country’s vice president and eight others went missing on Monday, the government reported.
Vice President Saulos Chilima was en route to attend the funeral of Ralph Kasambara, a former justice minister who passed away on Friday. The helicopter departed from the capital, Lilongwe, but went missing in the northern region of the country.
In response to the incident, President Lazarus Chakwera canceled a scheduled overseas trip and directed both regional and national agencies to intensify the search efforts for the missing aircraft, according to a statement from the president’s office.
The atmosphere in the southern African country has grown somber as the public anxiously awaits news about the vice president.
Recent years have seen prominent figures perish in helicopter crashes, including Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who died last month in a crash. Closer to home, Gen. Francis Ogolla, Kenya’s military chief, also died in a helicopter crash this past April.