Cargo plane operated by Ukraine carrier crashes in Greece

world
Cargo Plane Operated By Ukraine Carrier Crashes In Greece
Flames are seen at the site of a plane crash, a few miles away from the city of Kavala, in northern Greece, Saturday, July 16, 2022, © AP/Press Association Images
Share this article

By Associated Press Reporters

A cargo plane operated by a Ukrainian airline crashed on Saturday near the city of Kavala in northern Greece, authorities said.

Local residents reported seeing a fireball and hearing explosions for two hours after the crash.

Advertisement

Greek Civil Aviation authorities said the flight was heading from Serbia to Jordan. The An-12, a Soviet-built turboprop aircraft, was operated by cargo carrier Meridian.

Greek media reported there were eight people on the plane and it was carrying 12 tonnes of “dangerous materials”, mostly explosives. But local officials said they had no specific information on the cargo and provided varying numbers of people on board.


Greece Plane Crash
Firefighters had to battle the blaze near the city of Kavala, in northern Greece on Saturday (Ilias Kotsireas/InTime News/AP)

Advertisement

As a precaution because of a strong smell emanating from the crash site, a co-ordinating committee made up of municipal, police and fire service officials told inhabitants of the two localities closest to the crash site to keep their windows shut all night, to not leave their homes and to wear masks.

Authorities say they do not know if there were dangerous chemicals on the plane, including those contained in batteries.

Greece’s Civil Aviation authority said the pilot managed to alert authorities about a problem in one of the plane’s engines and he was given the choice of landing at either the Thessaloniki or Kavala airports, and he opted for Kavala, which was closer, saying that he had to make an emergency landing.

Communication with the plane ceased almost immediately afterwards. The plane crashed about 25 miles west of the airport.

Advertisement


Firefighting vehicles are seen near the site of a plane crash, a few miles away from the city of Kavala, in northern Greece, on Saturday, July 16, 2022
Greek authorities said an Antonov plane, which was headed from Serbia to Jordan, crashed near the city of Kavala on Saturday (Ilias Kotsireas/InTime News/AP)

“We were hearing explosions until a few minutes ago,” Filippos Anastassiadis, mayor of the municipality of Paggaio, told the Associated Press a little over an hour after the accident. “I am about 300 metres from the site of the crash.”

ERT reported that army and explosive experts were en route to the site, located on farmland close to two villages that are part of the Paggaio municipality. But they are not expected to start working before dawn. Experts from Greece’s Atomic Energy Commission will join them.

Advertisement

The fire service has cordoned off the area at a radius of about 400 metres. The cordoned-off area will be expanded at dawn, fire service officials said.

Read More

Message submitting... Thank you for waiting.

Want us to email you top stories each lunch time?

Download our Apps
© BreakingNews.ie 2024, developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com