President Bola Tinubu has mourned the death of Malawi Vice President, Saulos Chilima.
Tinubu extended his condolences to Malawian President, Lazarus Chakwera and the people of Malawi over the tragic loss of Chilima and other officials in a plane crash.
Vice President Chilima and the nine others, including the former First Lady, Shanil Dzimbiri, who were to attend the funeral of a prominent Malawian lawyer, former Attorney General and Justice Minister Ralph Kasambala, in Mzuzu, were reported dead on Tuesday.
President Chakwera declared on Tuesday that there were no survivors in the wreckage of the plane carrying Malawi’s Vice President.
Chilima and nine others were travelling within the country on Monday morning when their aircraft vanished from airport radars.
According to aviation authorities, the military aircraft was flying in bad weather.
President Tinubu expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, on Tuesday, reacting to this deeply distressing incident.
The statement reads, “President Tinubu commiserates with the families of the deceased over this deeply distressing incident, which happened on a mournful Monday, June 10, 2024.
“The President assures the Malawian nation of Nigeria’s support during this time of mourning and prays for the repose of the souls of the departed.”
Chronicle NG reports that the event is coming barely a month after Iranian President, Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash.
On May 20, 2024, world leaders joined Iranians in mourning Raisi, whose helicopter crashed into a fog-shrouded mountain.
The late 63-year-old president, his foreign minister, and seven others died when the aircraft went down in a remote area of northwestern Iran, where the wreckage was only found on Monday morning.
They were all confirmed dead by the state authorities.