Four people died when a vehicle participating in the funeral procession for the late Vice President of Malawi drove straight into the crowd of mourners.
A further 12 people were injured in the incident, which occurred on Sunday evening local time in the village of Ntcheu in central Malawi. The procession was on its way to Nsipe, Vice President Saulos Chilima's hometown, ahead of his funeral on Monday. Thousands of people had gathered on the streets to catch a glimpse of Chilima's coffin.
An eyewitness told the news agency AFP that the car crashed into the crowd as it tried to manoeuvre away from it.
Felix Njawala, spokesperson for Chilima's party UTM, said that a tense atmosphere developed along the route as mourners demanded that the procession be stopped so they could see the coffin.
Chilima died along with nine other people when a military plane crashed last Monday. He was Malawi's Vice President for ten years under two different presidents, both before and after a disputed election in 2019 that was annulled due to fraud.
