Malawi government said Wednesday that Vice President Saulos Chilima will be honored with a state funeral after he died in a plane crash along with eight other people.
President Lazarus Chakwera announced 21 days of national mourning on Tuesday, when the wreckage of the small military plane carrying Chilima and a former first lady was discovered in a mountainous area in the country’s north.
Chilima was 51 and had been vice president since 2014, having served a first term in the role under former President Peter Mutharika.
Chakwera previously said there were 10 people on the plane, but the government now says nine were on board.
Everyone was killed on impact when the twin-propeller aircraft went down in a hilly, forested area in bad weather, the president said. The victims included former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri, the ex-wife of former Malawian President Bakili Muluzi. Six passengers and three military crew members were on board.
AP
