ATHENS, July 17 (Reuters) – A Ukrainian cargo plane carrying ammunition from Serbia to Bangladesh crashed Saturday afternoon near the northern Greek city of Kavala, killing crew members on board, Serbian authorities and the Meridian airline said on Sunday.
Images of the drones in the scene showed smoking debris from the Antonov An-12 plane scattered across the fields. Greek authorities said there were eight crew members on board and a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said they were all Ukrainian citizens.
The Ukrainian-based Meridian airline, which operated the plane, said all crew members died in the crash. Read more
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Serbia’s defense minister said the plane was carrying 11.5 tonnes of products, including mortar and training shells, manufactured by its defense industry. The buyer of the cargo was the Bangladesh Ministry of Defense, he said.
Denys Bogdanovych, CEO of Meridian, confirmed the account of the events in Serbia. “This is not related to Ukraine or Russia,” Bogdanovych told Reuters by phone.
Witnesses said the plane crashed into a ball of flames before exploding on impact in the cornfields around midnight local time. Earlier, the pilot had reported an engine problem and had requested an emergency landing.
Greek authorities were unable to provide information on the cargo of the aircraft or the crew. The special disaster response unit and army experts moved to the scene, while local authorities banned people from moving in the area.
Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said the cargo included lighted mortar shells and training shells. It had taken off on Saturday at 18.40 GMT from Nis to Serbia.
“The plane was carrying 11.5 tonnes of products manufactured by our defense industry. The buyer was the Bangladesh Ministry of Defense,” Stefanovic said.
He said the cargo of the plane was owned by the Serbian company Valir, a company registered to conduct foreign trade activities of military weapons equipment and other defense products.
Greek 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 posted on ertnews.gr showed the burning plane descending rapidly before crashing to the ground in what appeared to be an explosion.
“I wonder how he didn’t fall into our homes,” a witness, Aimilia Tsaptanova, told reporters. “It was full of smoke, it had a noise I can’t describe and it went through the mountain. It passed in front of the mountain and turned and crashed into the fields.”
A senior source in Jordan’s civil aviation regulatory commission denied initial reports that the plane was heading to Jordan. The source said her flight itinerary included a stopover at Jordan’s Queen Alia International Airport at 9.30pm (06.30 GMT), to refuel, state news agency Petra reported on Sunday.
He also had to stop in Riyadh and Ahmedabad in India before heading to Dhaka, Serbia’s defense minister said.
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Report by Renee Maltezou, Ivana Sekularac, Tom Balmforth, Max Hunder, Michele Kambas, Thanasis Elmazis and Yasmin Hussein; Edited by Raissa Kasolowsky and Jane Merriman
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