Plane crash in northern Greece, all eight crew killed

The Greek fire brigade said that the plane, an Antonov AN-12, crashed around 11 pm local time near Paleochori Village which is 23 kilometers to the northwest of the city of Kavala. 

The plane took off from the city of Nis in Serbia. It crashed en route to Bangladesh. Serbian Defence Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said that all crew members were pronounced dead. The defense minister also said that the cargo plane was carrying 11 tonnes of military goods including mortar mines and training mines. 

The Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleg Nikolenko, said “the preliminary cause of the accident is the failure of one of the engines,” in a Facebook post.

Greek air control announced that the plane requested clearance for an emergency landing at the Kavala airport but did not make it.

Explosive disposal experts, alongside the Greek Army’s Special Joint Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Unit were dispatched to the crash site. The Civil Aviation Authority experts will try to retrieve the plane's black boxes once these teams declare the site to be safe as per the local authorities.

People living in the vicinity were told to stay inside and wear face masks. Villagers were barred from going near the fields where the plane crashed until authorities could remove the fuselage and any unexploded munitions.