An aircraft carrying Malawi's Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine others has gone missing mid-flight, a statement from the country’s president's office said on Monday, June 10.

"The Office of the President and Cabinet wishes to inform the general public that the Malawi Defence Force Aircraft that left Lilongwe today, Monday 10th June 2024 at 09:17 Hours, carrying the Vice President, the Right Honourable Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima, and nine others, failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu International Airport at 10:02,” the statement read.

"All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the Aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far,” it went on.

As the search is underway, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera has canceled his scheduled departure to the Bahamas and ordered all regional and national agencies to conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft.