PALAIOCHORI, Greece — An Antonov cargo aircraft operated by a Ukrainian airline crashed Saturday close to town of Kavala in northern Greece, authorities mentioned. Native residents reported seeing a fireball and listening to explosions for 2 hours after the crash.
Greek Civil Aviation authorities mentioned the flight was heading from Serbia to Jordan. The An-12, a Soviet-built turboprop plane, was operated by cargo provider Meridian.
Greek media reported there have been eight folks on the aircraft and that it was carrying 12 tons of “harmful supplies,” largely explosives. However native officers mentioned they’d no particular data on the cargo and supplied various numbers of individuals on board.
As a precaution due to a powerful scent emanating from the crash website, a coordinating committee made up of municipal, police and fireplace service officers instructed inhabitants of the 2 localities closest to the crash website to maintain their home windows shut all evening, to not depart their houses and to put on masks. Authorities say they have no idea if there have been harmful chemical substances on the aircraft, together with these contained in batteries.
Greece’s Civil Aviation authority mentioned the pilot managed to alert authorities about an issue in one of many aircraft’s engines and he was given the selection of touchdown in both the Thessaloniki or Kavala airports, and he opted for Kavala, which was nearer, saying that he needed to make an emergency touchdown.
Communication with the aircraft ceased virtually instantly afterwards. The aircraft crashed about 25 miles west of the airport.
“We have been listening to explosions till a couple of minutes in the past,” Filippos Anastassiadis, mayor of the municipality of Paggaio, instructed the Related Press a little bit over an hour after the accident. “I’m about 300 meters from the location of the crash.”
One in every of Anastassiadis’ deputies instructed state broadcaster ERT that explosions have been heard for 2 hours following the crash.
Locals reported seeing a fireball and a plume of smoke earlier than the crash.
ERT reported that military and explosive specialists have been en path to the location, positioned on farmland shut to 2 villages which might be a part of the Paggaio municipality. However they aren’t anticipated to begin working earlier than daybreak. Consultants from Greece’s Atomic Vitality Fee will be a part of them.
The hearth service has cordoned off the world at a radius of about 400 meters. The cordoned-off space might be expanded at daybreak, fireplace service officers mentioned.
