A military aircraft carrying Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima has gone missing after failing to land on Monday morning, according to the government.

“All efforts by aviation authorities to make contact with the aircraft since it went off the radar have failed thus far,” the government stated.

The plane, which departed shortly after 9:00 am local time (0700 GMT), was carrying 51-year-old Chilima and nine others.

President Lazarus Chakwera has ordered regional and national forces to launch an “immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft,” the statement added.

Chakwera, who was scheduled to travel to the Bahamas for a working visit, has canceled his trip.