All 8 Ukrainian crew members killed in cargo plane crash in Greece

The Ukrainian-operated plane was carrying some 11 tonnes of weapons, including mines, to Bangladesh when it crashed Saturday night

Toxic fumes from the cargo kept rescuers at a distance, with two firefighters taken to hospital Sunday for breathing difficulties

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Debris is seen at the crash site of an Antonov An-12 cargo plane owned by a Ukrainian company, near Kavala, Greece on July 17. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:41pm, 17 Jul 2022

All eight crew members of a cargo plane that crashed near the Greek city of Kavala died in the accident, Serbia’s Defence Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said on Sunday.

The Ukrainian-operated Antonov An-12 was carrying around 11 tonnes of weapons, including mines, to Bangladesh when it crashed on Saturday night, Stefanovic said.

Videos shared by eyewitnesses on social media showed the plane engulfed by a giant fireball as it hit the ground.

A drone view shows the burning debris at the crash site near Kavala, Greece, on July 16, 2022. Photo: ENA Channel via Reuters

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

Denys Bohdanovytch, general director of Meridian, the Ukrainian cargo airline operating the plane, told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle the crew were all Ukrainian. He gave no information about the cargo.

The plane had taken off from Nis airport in Serbia at around 8.40pm (18:40 GMT) on Saturday, carrying weapons owned by private Serbian company Valir, Stefanovic said.

Video footage from a local channel showed signs of impact in a field and the aircraft in pieces scattered over a wide area. Photo: AFP

Greek media said it had requested clearance to make an emergency landing at Kavala airport but had not managed to reach it.