Read < 1 minute

The body of Malawian Vice President Saulos Chilima, who died Monday in a plane crash, will be buried at his home village in Ntcheu district, about 175km south of the capital, Lilongwe.

Minister of Information and Digitalisation, Moses Kunkuyu, announced on Wednesday that the funeral service will start on Friday when the body will be taken from the mortuary to the Late Chilima’s St. Patrick’s Catholic Parish within Lilongwe for a mass before proceeding to his state residence within the city.

Kunkuyu, also spokesperson for the government and member of the Vice President funeral’s taskforce, said that the body will be taken to a Civo Stadium within the city to allow the public pay homage before burial at the Vice President’s village Monday.

Burial for the body of the country’s former First Lady, Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri, who also died along with Chilima and seven others on board, will take place Friday at her home village, Balaka, 220km south of Lilongwe.

The Malawian government is footing all funeral and burial expenses for the vice president and the other officials who were on board.

Meanwhile, the minister said the Malawi Defense Force and the Malawi Police Service will investigate the causes of the crash despite the bad weather conditions.

A military aircraft belonging to the Malawi Defense Force crashed in a forest outside Mzuzu City in the northern region after bad weather restricted the pilot to land at Mzuzu Airport and attempted to return to Lilongwe before crashing in the forest.

A search and rescue operation was conducted from Monday through Tuesday when the wreckage of the aircraft and the bodies were found with no survivors.