A plane carrying Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine others has gone missing, a statement from the president’s office said.
The Malawi Defense Force aircraft “disappeared from radar” after leaving the capital Lilongwe on Monday morning, it added.
The president ordered a search and rescue operation after aviation officials were unable to make contact with the plane.
The plane was due to land at Mzuzu International Airport in the north of the country just after 10am local time (11am BST).
Other passengers on the flight include Chilima’s wife, Mary, and some officials from the vice president’s United Transformation Movement (UTM) party.
After the commander of the armed forces was informed of the incident, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera canceled his scheduled flight to the Bahamas.
“The public will be kept informed of any developments in the situation once the facts are established,” the president’s office said.
The reason for the plane’s disappearance is not yet known, General Valentino Phiri told Mr Chakwera. Moses Kunkuyu, Malawi’s information minister, told the BBC that efforts to find the plane are “intensive”.
Chilima was on her way to represent the government at the funeral of former minister Ralph Kasambara, who passed away three days ago.
Prior to his political career, he held key leadership roles at multinational companies such as Unilever and Coca Cola.
Chilima, 51, has been vice president of the southern African country since 2014.
He is married and has two children.
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