Greek agents block a road near the place where the plane crashed. /
The aircraft, an Antonov 12 owned by the Meridian LTD company, collided late on Saturday in the Greek town of Kavala, shortly after leaving Serbia for Bangladesh.
The Serbian Ministry of Defense has reported this Sunday the death of the eight crew members who were traveling aboard the plane that crashed late on Saturday in northern Greece. The aircraft, an Antonov 12 belonging to the Ukrainian company Meridian LTD, had left at 8:40 p.m. local time from the Nis airport, in the south of the Balkan country, and was headed to Bangladesh with 11 tons of weapons, including mortar mines.
According to Greek media, the plane had requested permission to make an emergency landing at the airport in Kavala, a coastal city in northern Greece, but ended up colliding with the ground in the Antifilippi area for reasons that are being investigated. A neighbor, Giorgos Archontopoulos, told ERT public television that he knew something was wrong when he heard the noise the aircraft was making. “At 10:45 p.m. (local time) I was surprised by the noise. I went out and saw the engine on fire », he explains.
“Unfortunately, according to the information we received, all eight crew members died in the accident,” Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said at a press conference on Sunday. “Some media outlets said that the plane was supposedly carrying weapons to Ukraine, which is completely false,” he assured, clarifying that it was a transaction agreed with the Government of Bangladesh “respecting international rules” and that the war material that the plane was carrying was owned by the Serbian company Valir.
Aided by a drone and special teams
Denys Bohdanovytch, general director of Meridian, has confirmed, for his part, to the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle that all the occupants of the device were Ukrainians, whose consul in Greece, Vadim Sabluk, has gone to the accident site this Sunday to witness of rescue operations. Due to the danger of the cargo, the Hellenic rescue services use a drone to fly over the remains. Meanwhile, firefighters have specified that they have accessed the point of impact with special equipment and measuring instruments to “closely examine the fuselage and other scattered parts.”
Because of the toxic gases, two firefighters had to be taken to the hospital early on Sunday with breathing difficulties. Likewise, the Greek authorities have asked people living within a radius of two kilometers from the accident site to remain in their homes with the windows closed, the air conditioning turned off and to wear masks.