THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — An Antonov cargo plane operated by a Ukrainian airline crashed Saturday near the northern Greek city of Kavala, authorities said. Local residents reported seeing a fireball and hearing explosions two hours after the crash.
Greek civil aviation authorities said the flight was headed from Serbia to Jordan. The An-12, a Soviet-built turboprop aircraft, was operated by the cargo carrier Meridian, according to state broadcaster ERT.
Greek media reported that there were eight people on board and that it was carrying 12 tonnes of “hazardous materials”, mostly explosives. But local officials said they had no specific information about the cargo and provided a different number of people on board.
As a precautionary measure due to a strong smell wafting from the crash site, a coordination committee made up of municipal, police and fire officials told residents of the two settlements closest to the crash site to keep their windows closed all night. not to leave their homes and wear masks. Authorities say they don’t know if any hazardous chemicals, including those contained in the batteries, were on board the plane.
Greece’s civil aviation authority said the pilot was able to alert authorities to a problem with one of the plane’s engines and was given the choice of landing at Thessaloniki airport or Kavala, and he chose Kavala, which was closer. saying he had to make an emergency landing.
Communication with the aircraft was lost almost immediately afterwards. The plane crashed about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the airport.
“We heard explosions until a few minutes ago,” Philippos Anastasiadis, the mayor of the municipality of Pagaio, told The Associated Press just over an hour after the incident. “I’m about 300 meters from the crash site.”
One of Anastasiadis’ deputies told state broadcaster ERT that explosions were heard two hours after the crash.
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Locals reported seeing a fireball and a cloud of smoke before the crash.
ERT said the army and explosives experts were traveling to the site, located in farmland near two villages that are part of Pagayo municipality. But they are not expected to start work before dawn.
The fire department has cordoned off the area in a radius of about 400 meters. The cordoned off area will be expanded at dawn, fire officials said.
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Nelas reported from Athens, Greece.
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