On June 11, 2024, Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera confirmed that Chilima and eight others – one fewer than initially reported – died after his plane crashed in bad weather (archived here). Former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri was also on board. The next day, searchers found the wreckage in a misty forest.
However, the photo in the message has nothing to do with the events in Malawi.
Ukraine plane
A reverse image search of the photo revealed that it was originally taken in Ukraine in 2020 (archived here).
“Photo taken on September 26, 2020 shows the crash site of 26 military aircraft in Chuguev, Kharkov region, Ukraine,” part of the caption reads. The photo was taken by Sergey Starostenko for the Chinese news agency Xinhua.
On September 25, 2020, the An-26 military aircraft with 27 people on board crashed during a training flight while landing at an army base near Chuguev in the Kharkov region. One person survived.
Malawi crash
In his address to the Malawian people, Chakwera said: “The search and rescue team found the aircraft… completely destroyed with no survivors as all passengers on board were killed in the collision.”
Photos shared with AFP by a member of the military rescue team showed military personnel standing on a misty slope near debris bearing the registration number of the Malawi Army Air Wing Dornier 228-202K aircraft.
One of the images was published here by Sky News (archived here).
The military plane carrying 51-year-old Chilima and eight others disappeared after bad weather prevented it from landing in the northern city of Mzuzu and was told to return to the capital Lilongwe (archived here).
