An aircraft carrying 10 people including the vice president of Malawi, and the country's former first lady, was reported missing after it failed to make a scheduled landing and search-and-rescue efforts are underway.
The south-east African nation's vice-president, who had corruption charges dropped against him last month, was on a short trip from the capital to a mountainous region in the country's north.
President Lazarus Chakwera said the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) had established by 3pm on Monday using signals from telecommunication towers in the area that the plane was located somewhere within a 10km radius of Raiply. This had become the focus for the MDF search and rescue operation.