Ukraine carrier cargo plane crashes in Greece, reportedly had explosives

Local residents said that they saw a fireball and heard explosions for two hours after the crash.

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

The lane with eight people onboard was carrying 12 tons of ‘dangerous materials’, mostly explosives, reported the Greek media. However, local officials provided varying numbers while confirming the number of people onboard and said they had no specific information on the cargo.

A coordinating 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 as a precaution because of a strong smell emanating from the crash site. 

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

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

The plane crashed about 40 kilometers west of the airport and the communication with the plane ceased almost immediately afterwards.

After over an hour of the incident, mayor of the municipality of Paggaio, Filippos Anastassiadis said he had heard explosions minutes ago while confirming his location to be 300 metres from the site of the crash.

Locals reported seeing a fireball and a plume of smoke before the crash.

One media report said 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.

Fire service officials said that the area has been cordoned off at a radius of about 400 metres and the cordoned-off area will be expanded at dawn.

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