8 crew members killed as Ukrainian cargo plane crashes in Greece

ATHENS • A Ukrainian cargo plane carrying munitions from Serbia to Bangladesh crashed near the city of Kavala in northern Greece late on Saturday, killing all crew members on board, the Serbian and Greek authorities, as well as Meridian airlines, said yesterday.

Drone images from the scene showed smouldering debris from the Antonov An-12 aircraft strewn in fields.

The Greek authorities said there were eight crew members on board and a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman said they were all Ukrainian citizens.

Ukrainian-based airline Meridian, which operated the aircraft, said all crew members were killed in the crash.

Serbia's Defence Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said the plane was carrying 11.5 tonnes of products - including illuminating mortar shells and training shells - made by its defence industry.

"The buyer was the Bangladesh Defence Ministry," said Mr Stefanovic.

It had taken off at 1840GMT on Saturday from Nis in Serbia.

Meridian's general director Denys Bogdanovych confirmed Serbia's account of events.

"This is not related to Ukraine or Russia," Mr Bogdanovych told Reuters by telephone, referring to the war.

Witnesses said the aircraft came down in a ball of flames before exploding on impact in corn fields around midnight local time.

Earlier, the pilot had reported engine trouble and had requested an emergency landing.

The special disaster response unit and army experts were dispatched to the scene, while the local authorities issued a ban on people moving in the area.

Mr Stefanovic said the plane's cargo was owned by Serbian company Valir, a company registered to perform foreign trade activities of armament military equipment and other defence products.

Greek state television ERT said the aircraft's signal was lost soon after the pilot requested an emergency landing from Greek aviation authorities due to an engine problem.

Amateur video footage uploaded on ertnews.gr showed the aircraft in flames descending fast before hitting the ground in what appeared to be an explosion.

"I wonder how it didn't fall on our houses," witness Aimilia Tsaptanova said.

"It was full of smoke, it had a noise I can't describe and went over the mountain. It passed the mountain and turned and crashed into the fields."

REUTERS