On Sunday, experts analyzed a cargo jet accident in northern Greece, finding no indications of harmful chemicals but claiming that the plane's cargo was scattered about the disaster site. The crash killed all eight crew members, according to Serbia's defense minister.
The An-12 freight jet from Serbia was being piloted by a Ukrainian aviation crew when it crashed into fields between two Greek towns late Saturday. The jet crashed just before 11 pm approximately 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Kavala International Airport
Ukrainian Cargo Aircraft Crashes in Northern Greece
Officials claimed the pilot had alerted air traffic controllers minutes before that he had an issue with one of his engines and needed to make an emergency landing. He was told to go to Kavala Airport, but he never arrived.
The fuselage of the four-engine turboprop from the Soviet period dragged on the ground for 170 meters (almost 190 yards) before disintegrating. For two hours after the collision, residents reported seeing a fireball and hearing blasts. Drone footage revealed that just minor parts of the airliner remained.
Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said at a press briefing on Sunday that the plane's eight crew members were killed. He stated that the jet was transporting 11.5 tons of Serbian-made mortar ammunition to Bangladesh. It had taken off from the Serbian city of Nis and was scheduled to make a stopover in Amman, Jordan.
Meridian, a Ukrainian cargo carrier, flew the plane. When the Ukrainian consul in Thessaloniki arrived at the accident site, he informed Greek officials that the whole crew was Ukrainian.
Before departing, the Greek army's Special Joint Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Unit prepared two routes for Fire Service forensics specialists to move in. The second team had recovered all of the dead by nightfall, according to the commander of the army's Landmine Field Clearing Battalion, AP News reported.
According to a senior source at Jordan's civil aviation regulatory authority (CARC), the jet was not bound to Jordan. The flight's schedule included a refueling stop in Jordan's Queen Alia international airport at 9:30 pm on Sunday, as reported by official news outlet Petra.
Since Saturday night, the location in Greece where the plane crashed has been blocked off. Residents in the neighborhood have been warned to keep their windows and doors closed and to avoid the incident site.
The fire department has roped off the area in a 400-meter radius. The mayor of Paggaio, the municipality that includes the two towns surrounding the collision, restricted neighboring highways.
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In accordance with Athens News Agency, eyewitnesses said that the Antonov An-12 was on fire and that they heard explosions. A resident from the hilly terrain, Giorgos Archontopoulos, told state broadcaster ERT television that he suspected something was wrong as soon as he heard the aircraft's engine.
Locals who saw a fireball and a column of smoke, as well as Greek media, believe the jet was carrying explosives. As per ERT, army explosive specialists were on their route to the site, which is located on farmland between two villages in the Paggaio municipality. It further stated that locals claim it was already in flames when it crashed, and ERT has been informed that its cargo was unsafe, according to Daily Mail.
On Sunday, Greece's Civil Protection Authority released a statement encouraging inhabitants of the region to stay at home with their windows closed until further notice. One mayor in the area has called for a curfew until the results of the investigations are made public.
Drone footage recorded on Sunday and shown on Greek television showed artillery rounds and debris strewn across a cornfield. Mr. Syrlantzis stated that experts from Geetha's land mine disposal team and its special unit for nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons were seeking to identify a strange white powder that had collected in and around the crash site.
Later that day, Yiannis Artopios, a spokesperson for Greece's national fire department, reported that preliminary examinations had revealed no harmful compounds. Firefighters have discovered two dead and are looking for six more, he said, as per New York Times.
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