Four people were killed and nearly twelve people were injured when a vehicle rammed into mourners at Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima’s funeral procession. The vehicle was a part of a motorcade transporting the body of Saulos Chilima, who lost his life in a plane crash earlier this week, reported AFP.
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As the mourners kept joining the procession, a vehicle plunged into a crowd in Ntcheu village in central Malawi, Africa. The incident led to huge chaos at the procession, headed towards Nsipe, Chilima’s home village, 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of the capital Lilongwe. Chilima’s remains were set to be buried on Monday, which has been declared a public holiday.
Due to collision with the vehicle, two female and two male pedestrians sustained severe head injuries and multiple fractures. All four of them died while receiving treatment for their injuries, reported AP citing police officials.
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A vehicle in the convoy of Malawi’s late vice president’s funeral procession rammed into mourners at a village on Sunday night, killing four people and injuring 12, police said.
It was part of a motorcade transporting the body of Saulos Chilima, who died in a plane crash earlier this week. Thousands of people had lined up in the streets to catch a glimpse of the vice president’s coffin.
An eyewitness told AFP that the vehicle plunged into the group as it attempted to manuever away from the volatile crowd.
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Felix Njawala, spokesman for Chilima’s party, said there was some tension along the route as mourners demanded the procession stop so they could see the coffin.
“In Dedza, people blocked the road and demanded to see the coffin” he told AFP, “only when the convoy stopped were people pacified and the convoy was able to proceed” adding that in some instances people threw stones at the convoy.
Saulos Chilima’s death
Chilima died last week along with eight others during a military aircraft crash in Malawi’s Chikangawa Forest in dense fog. Soon after the accident, the military began its search operation, after which the wreckage of the plane was on Tuesday.
His party, the United Transformation Movement (UTM), allied with President Lazarus Chakwera’s Malawi Congress Party (MCP) in the 2020 presidential election, fielding a joint ticket. Several political leaders are demanding for an independent enquiry into the accident.
(With inputs from AP)
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