ATHENS, Greece—A Ukrainian cargo plane carrying munitions to Bangladesh from Serbia crashed in northern Greece late on July 16, killing all eight crew members on board, Greek and Serbian authorities said on July 17.
The aircraft came down in a ball of flames near the city of Kavala before exploding on impact in corn fields at about midnight local time, witnesses said. Earlier, the pilot had reported engine trouble and had requested an emergency landing.
Drone images from the scene show smoldering debris from the Antonov An-12 aircraft strewn across fields.
Ukrainian-based airline Meridian, which operated the aircraft, confirmed that all eight crew members were killed. Ukraine’s foreign ministry stated that they were all Ukrainian citizens.
Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said the plane had been carrying 11.5 metric tons (about 25,300 pounds) of products, including mortar and training shells, made by its defense industry. The buyer of the cargo was the defense ministry of Bangladesh, he said.
Confirming that account, Denys Bogdanovych, Meridian’s general director, said the crash was unrelated to the war currently raging in Ukraine.
‘Full of Smoke’
Greek state TV ERT said the aircraft’s signal was lost soon after the pilot requested an emergency landing. Amateur video footage uploaded on ertnews.gr shows 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,” one witness, Aimilia Tsaptanova, told reporters. “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.”
Greek authorities said the special disaster response unit and military staff, including mine clearance units, were dispatched to the scene. They also banned people from moving around the area and advised residents to keep doors and windows shut.
A fire brigade official told reporters on July 17 that firefighters “felt their lips burning” and that white dust was floating in the air.
Some businesses and households in the area suffered power cuts after the crash, possibly because the plane may have cut cables or burned them in the explosion, according to local media outlets. More explosions occurred during the night after the crash.
Greece’s foreign ministry expressed condolences to the families of the Ukrainian crew.
Serbia’s Stefanovic said the plane’s cargo was owned by Serbian company Valir, a company registered to perform foreign trade activities of military equipment and other defense products.
