The machine was already burning in the air, then it crashed into a field just a few hundred meters from a populated area. Eight people are dead. The dangerous cargo is also a cause for concern.
Kavala – An Antonov An-12 cargo plane crashed near the northeastern Greek city of Kavala late on Saturday evening. According to media reports, eight people were on board, and nobody survived the accident.
Residents in the area have been asked to keep their windows closed and their air conditioners off. According to media reports, the Antonov had loaded twelve tons of “toxic material” and said there were toxic fumes in the air. What kind of material it is exactly was not known at first. Loaded ammunition was also reported, especially since numerous explosions were heard after the crash.
The machine is said to have taken off from Nis, Serbia, and was on its way to Amman, Jordan, when the pilot reported problems with an engine and requested an emergency landing at Kavala Airport. The crew did not make it there, however, and the plane crashed about 40 kilometers from the airport. On the online flight tracker Flightradar24, the flight route showed that the Antonov was already over the northern Aegean Sea near the Halkidiki peninsula and then turned back towards Kavala.
Cell phone recordings from local residents documented that the plane was on fire before the crash. First, a large contingent of fire brigade, ambulance and police arrived, then the rescue workers withdrew from the scene of the accident and also asked journalists and spectators to leave the area immediately. One is waiting for special forces, two colleagues were taken to the hospital with breathing difficulties, a firefighter told the state broadcaster ERT.
It is very fortunate that the plane did not crash over a populated area, eyewitnesses to the accident from the village of Paleochori told journalists. The Antonow raced very close to houses. In the crash, the plane apparently also destroyed power poles, and the electricity in the surrounding villages was temporarily lost. dpa
