LILONGWE — Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima has been killed in a plane crash along with nine other passengers, the country’s President Lazarus Chakwera announced Tuesday.

The aircraft went missing after it failed to land at the Mzuzu International Airport, about 380 km (240 miles) to the north of the capital Lilongwe. The wreckage of the plane has been located, Chakwera said Tuesday.

“The search and rescue operation I ordered to find the missing plane that carried our vice president and nine others has been completed. The plane has been found. And I am deeply saddened and sorry to inform you that it has turned out to be a terrible tragedy,” Chakwera said.

The Malawian leader disclosed that the aircraft was found “completely destroyed” in the Chikangawa Forest, adding that “words cannot describe how heartbreaking this is.”

Chakwera paid tribute to his deputy, describing him as “a good man, a devoted father and husband, (and) a patriotic citizen who served his country with distinction.”

Chilima, 51, arrived back in Malawi on June 6 after attending the Korea-Africa Summit in Seoul last week.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Malawi Defence Force said it had deployed drones and at least 200 soldiers to search for the plane at the Chikangawa Forest reserve where signals of its whereabouts were last received.

The Force Commander Paul Valentino Phiri said rescue operations had been delayed by bad weather conditions. — CNN