At least nine people were feared dead on Thursday after a private plane hired by the Australian mining firm Paladin Africa crashed in the centre of Malawi, police and aviation officials said.
A police spokesperson at the crash site in Dowa district said that there was no sign of survivors on the plane, which was known to have been carrying eight engineers as well as the pilot.
”We do not know how many people were on board but it is believed that there were eight engineers who were flying from Lilongwe to the uranium project site in Karonga” in northern Malawi, spokesperson Willie Mwaluka told Agence France-Presse by phone.
”There are no signs of survivors,” he said.
An official at the department of civil aviation confirmed the crash, without giving details of the casualties.
”I can confirm that a plane hired by Paladin Africa crashed this morning. Our officers have rushed to the scene for preliminary investigations,” said the official, identified as O Tambo.
”We will make an official statement when our officers are back from the field.”
Energy, Mines and Environment Minister Henry Chimunthu Banda announced last week that a deal had been reached with Paladin for it to begin mining uranium in Karonga and operations were expected to begin next year. ‒ Sapa-AFP