Issued on: 17/07/2022 – 12:05Altered: 17/07/2022 – 12:06
A Ukrainian cargo plane carrying ammunition from Serbia to Bangladesh crashed late Saturday near the town of Kavala in northern Greece, Serbian authorities said on Sunday.
Drone footage of the scene showed debris from the heaping Antonov An-12 plane lying in the fields. Greek authorities said there were eight crew members on board and a spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign ministry said they were all Ukrainian citizens.
Serbia’s defense minister said the plane was carrying 11.5 tons of products made by the defense industry and the purchaser was Bangladesh’s defense ministry. He said the crew members were killed.
The Greek authorities were unable to provide information about the plane’s cargo, but the special emergency response unit and army experts were sent to investigate the location.
Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said the cargo included illuminated mortar and practice grenades. It had taken off from Nis at 1840 GMT.
“The plane was carrying 11.5 tons of products made by our defense industry. The buyer was the Ministry of Defense of Bangladesh,” Stefanovic said.
He added that the cargo of the plane belonged to the Serbian company Valir, a trading company registered to conduct foreign trade activities in armaments, military equipment and other defense products.
State television ERT said the plane’s signal was lost shortly after the pilot requested an emergency landing from Greek aviation authorities due to an engine problem. Amateur video footage uploaded to ertnews.gr showed the plane quickly descending in flames before hitting the ground in what appeared to be an explosion.
A leading source at Jordan’s Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission (CARC) denied initial reports that the plane was en route to Jordan. The source said the flight route included a stopover at Jordan’s Queen Alia International Airport at 9:30 p.m. (0630 GMT), for refueling, state Petra news agency reported Sunday.
The larger area in Greece where the plane crashed has been cordoned off since Saturday evening. Local residents have been advised to keep windows and doors closed and to avoid the area surrounding the incident.
Sunday morning, a brigade officer told reporters that firefighters “felt their lips burning” and white dust was floating in the air.
“We don’t know what’s happening to us,” said fire chief Marios Apostolidis.
(REUTERS)