Malawi has declared 21 days of national mourning to honour Vice-President Saulos Chilima and eight others who tragically died in a plane crash. The group was flying on Monday towards a northern town when their military plane disappeared from radar amid bad weather conditions.
The wreckage was discovered on Tuesday in dense forests and rugged terrain near Mzuzu. The mourning period will last from Tuesday, June 11, to Monday, July 1, according to a cabinet statement released on Tuesday.
President Lazarus Chakwera has ordered all flags to be flown at half-mast during this period. Details on the funerals for the victims will be announced later. The bodies of Chilima and the other victims have been transported to the capital, Lilongwe.
President Chakwera, accompanied by government ministers and officials, received the bodies at Kamuzu International Airport on Tuesday evening. World leaders have been extending their condolences to the families and the government of Malawi.
