Malawian Vice President Saulos Chilima died on June 11, 2024, in a plane crash. Prior to the crash, the Malawi Defence Force aircraft he was aboard, along with nine other people, had been reported missing.
In addition to the tragic loss of the Malawian Vice President, there have been similar incidents involving other world leaders.
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In the article below, we shall look at other leaders who also died in aircraft crashes in recent years.
Ebrahim Raisi
On 19 May 2024, an Iranian Air Force helicopter crashed in East Azerbaijan, Iran which killed the President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi.
There also was Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, along six others travellinmg with them.
Raisi was heading to the city of Tabriz, in the north-west of Iran, after returning from a dam opening ceremony on the Azerbaijan border.
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General Francis Ogolla
On Thursday 18th April, 2024, the death of the Kenyan Chief of Defence Forces was announced.
Gen Ogolla who was onboard a Bell Huey II helicopter alongside 9 other military personnel encountered a helicopter crash that killed them on the spot.
He and the others died while on a mission to beef up security and rebuild schools that had been shut as a result of banditry in the North Rift region.
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George Saitoti
On June 2012, the Kenyan Internal Security Minister and politician George Saitoti was killed in a helicopter crash.
George Saitoti and his deputy, Orwa Ojode alongside their two bodyguards, died when the aircraft went down in Ngong Forest.
The accident occurred on Sunday minutes after they had taken off from Wilson Airport in a new helicopter heading for a fundraiser at Mr Ojode's constituency.
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Lech Kaczynski
The president of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, died in a plane crash near Smolensk, Russia along with many other high-ranking Polish officials.
The crash occurred as the delegation was en route to commemorate the Katyn massacre, in 2010.
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Samora Machel
In 1986, the president of Mozambique, Samora Machel, died in a plane crash near the Mozambican-South African border.
The cause of the crash is disputed with some alleging South African involvement.
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On April 6, 1994, Rwandese President Juvénal Habyarimana's plane was shot down near Kigali International Airport.
Alongside him, Cyprien Ntaryamira, the President of Burundi, was also killed.
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