The autopsy report on the death of Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima has provided crucial insights into the tragic circumstances surrounding his tragic demise. While the nation continues to mourn the loss of its Vice President, the findings of the independent medical examination offer a sobering account of the final moments of Chilima and the other passengers aboard the doomed flight.
The autopsy report paints a visceral picture of the sheer violence and instantaneous nature of Chilima’s demise. According to the pathologists, the Vice President sustained catastrophic injuries – from a severed aorta and ruptured heart chambers to a fractured skull and extensive limb trauma – that were deemed “unsurvivable.” This was not a drawn-out, agonizing end, but a violent, cataclysmic end that struck in the blink of an eye. This leaves little doubt that Chilima perished the moment the plane made impact, rather than enduring a prolonged or agonizing ordeal heading to the ground.
Equally chilling are the details that suggest Chilima’s desperate final moments. The report paints an image of Chilima clinging desperately to his rosary as the plane plummeted. The report’s description of his “rigidly frozen” fingers wrapped around the religious artefact is a haunting testament to the utter terror and helplessness he must have experienced in those final, agonizing seconds. It is a profoundly human detail that cuts to the core of this tragedy.
The rigidly frozen grip on his rosary, the deep embedment of soil and grass in his wounds – these visceral details paint a harrowing picture of a man clinging to his faith as the aircraft hurtled toward the ground. It is a profoundly sad and humanizing image that resonates with all who mourn his passing.
The autopsy confirms that all nine passengers aboard the doomed flight were killed instantly, with no survivors and no evidence of post-impact injuries or manhandling. This underscores the sheer magnitude of the crash and the impossibility of any onboard escaping its devastating consequences. Notably, this finding answers a significant question of whether or not Chilima and any other victims were still alive for some time after the plane had made impact with the ground.
While the Chilima family’s decision to conduct an independent autopsy given the gravity of the situation was understood as frank mission to cultivate answers, the fact that they have not yet released the full report to the public has fuelled speculation and rumours that they might have had theories which have been dismissed by the independent autopsy report.
The release of the autopsy report on the death of Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima is a harrowing but necessary step for many Malawians in coming to terms with this profound national tragedy.
Now that the independent autopsy has answered questions about how and when Chilima died, which confirms President Lazarus Chakwera’s report to Malawians that he died instantly and on impact, what remains is the question about what caused the plane to crash, which will be answered by the findings of the independent investigation currently being conducted by the German experts from General Atomics.
©Shire Times
