The convoy of Malawi’s Vice-President Saulos Chilima has been stoned in Phalombe, which is in the south of the country.
It is the home area of President Peter Mutharika, who has fallen out with his deputy.
Mr Chilima is currently on the campaign trail as the running mate of Lazarus Chakwera, the leader of the main opposition UTM party, in elections expected to be held within the next month.
A video posted by the private Malawian broadcaster Zodiak shows the convoy coming under attack:
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According to Zodiak, several journalists travelling in a press bus with the UTM convoy were injured.
On Thursday, Mr Chilima accused the government of trying to delay the election by deliberately allowing the spread of coronavirus after several hundred people who had returned from South Africa escaped before they could be tested for the virus.
MPs are due to meet next Friday to decide on the exact date of the election – one of the proposed dates is 23 June.
On 3 February, the Constitutional Court ordered a fresh vote be held within 150 days after annulling last year’s re-election of President Mutharika – a ruling upheld by the Supreme Court.
“People will vote in this fresh election, whether [we have] Covid-19 or Covid-21,’’ Mr Chilima had said during a campaign rally in southern Malawi.
The southern African nation currently has 203 recorded cases of coronavirus.
Source: BBC
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