PALAIOCHORI, Greece (AP) – An Antonov cargo plane operated by a Ukrainian airline crashed Saturday near the northern Greek city of Kavala, authorities said. Local residents said they saw a fireball and heard explosions for two hours after the crash.
Greek Civil Aviation authorities said the flight was going from Serbia to Jordan. The An-12, a Soviet-built turboprop aircraft, was operated by cargo carrier Meridian.
Greek media reported that there were eight people on the plane and that it was carrying 12 tons of “hazardous materials,” mostly explosives. But local officials said they had no specific information about the cargo and provided a variable number of people on board.
As a precaution due to a strong odor emanating from the scene of the accident, a coordination committee made up of municipal officials, police and firefighters told residents of the two localities closest to the scene of the accident to keep the windows closed all night, not leaving their homes and wearing masks. Authorities say they do not know if there were any hazardous chemicals on the plane, including those containing the batteries.
The Greek Civil Aviation Authority said the pilot managed to alert authorities to a problem in one of the plane’s engines and was given the opportunity to land at Thessaloniki or Kavala airports, and opt for Kavala, which was closer, saying he had to make an emergency landing.
Communication with the plane ceased almost immediately afterwards. The plane crashed about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the airport.
“We were hearing explosions until a few minutes ago,” Filippos Anastassiadis, mayor of Paggaio municipality, told the Associated Press just over an hour after the crash. “I’m about 300 yards from the crash site.”
One of Anastassiadis’ deputies told state channel ERT that explosions were heard for two hours after the crash.
Locals reported that they had seen a fireball and a column of smoke before the crash.
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The ERT reported that army and explosives experts were on their way to the site, located on farmland near two villages that are part of Paggaio municipality. But they are not expected to start work before dawn. Experts from the Greek Atomic Energy Commission will join.
Firefighters cordoned off the area within a radius of about 400 meters. The cordoned off area will be expanded in the morning, fire officials said.
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Nellas reported from Athens, Greece.