HARARE, June 11. /TASS/. Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera has declared a national period of mourning from Jun 11 to July 1 to honor the memory of Vice President Saulos Chilima and eight more high-ranking officials who died in the plane crash, according to a press statement by Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba.

According to Zamba, details of the funeral ceremony will be announced later.

The vice president’s plane took off from the capital city of Lilongwe on Monday and was supposed to land in the city of Mzuzu in the north of the country, where Chakwera was to represent the government during the funeral of former Attorney General Ralph Kasambara. However, the plane had to turn back after failing to land amid the bad weather conditions.