Eight crew members died in a cargo plane disaster in Greece

• Serbian defence minister confirms that all eight crew members of a cargo plane that crashed near Kavala perished in the accident.
• Antonov An-12, owned by the Ukrainians, was carrying around 11 tonnes of armaments, including mines, to Bangladesh when it crashed.

KAVALA: The Serbian defence minister said on Sunday that eight crew members of a cargo plane that crashed near the Greek city of Kavala perished in the accident.

Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, stated that the Antonov An-12, owned by the Ukrainians, was carrying around 11 tonnes of armaments, including mines, to Bangladesh when it crashed on Saturday night.

Videos uploaded to social media by witnesses showed the plane engulfed in a massive blaze as it crashed to the earth.

“Sadly, according to the information we have received, all eight members of the crew died in the crash,” Stefanovic said at the news conference.

The general manager of Meridian, the Ukrainian freight airline that operated the plane, informed the German radio station, Deutsche Welle, that the entire crew was Ukrainian. He provided no details regarding the shipment.

Stefanovic says that the plane took off from Nis Airport in Serbia at about 8:40 p.m. (18:40 GMT) on Saturday. It was carrying weapons from the private Serbian company Valir.

Greek media reported that the request for permission to conduct an emergency landing at Kavala airport had been denied.

Greek rescue workers kept a safe distance from the plane’s wreckage on Sunday because they were worried about how dangerous the cargo was.

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Villagers were prohibited from entering the fields surrounding the crash until the authorities removed the debris and explosive ordnance.

The Ukrainian consul, Vadim Sabluk, visited Sunday.

Greece News Agency reported that he gave police the identification of the eight crew members and confirmed the plane was headed to Bangladesh.

According to the Serbian minister of defence, the weapons supply was agreed upon with the Bangladeshi defence ministry “in accordance with international rules.”

“Unfortunately some media have speculated that the plane was carrying weapons destined for Ukraine but that is completely untrue,”  he stated.

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