An Antonov cargo plane crashed on Saturday night near the town of Paleochori Kavalas in northern Greece, firefighters said. All eight members of the plane’s crew died in the crash, Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said on Sunday.
The Antonov 12, owned by the Ukrainian company Meridian LTD, was carrying about 11 tons of weapons, including lighting mortar mines, bound for Bangladesh, the minister said.
“As for the identity of the crew, I think they are also Ukrainians but we have no information on this issue, they are not Serbs,” Nebojsa Stefanovic said during a press conference.
Arms bound for Bangladesh
The plane took off from Nis airport (southern Serbia) on Saturday at around 8:40 p.m. The exporter of these weapons is the private Serbian company Valir.
The minister insisted that it was an agreement with the Bangladesh Ministry of Defense “in accordance with international standards”. “Unfortunately, some media have speculated that this flight was allegedly carrying weapons to Ukraine, which is completely false,” he said.
Since 2016, the date from which every arms order is recorded electronically, Serbia has not issued any authorization to export weapons to Ukraine or Russia, Nebojsa Stefanovic said.
According to the minister, most cargo planes carrying weapons are of Soviet production and are in the possession of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. With Russia and Belarus under international sanctions due to the conflict in Ukraine, only Ukrainian transport aircraft are active and “engaged around the world”.
“Apart from the fact that they are owned by Ukrainian companies, there is no other link between these products and Ukraine,” the minister said.
A drome deployed to the crash site on Sunday
Experts from the military and the Greek Atomic Energy Commission are expected to use a drone on Sunday to approach the wreckage over fears of the toxicity of its unknown cargo.
The Antonov crashed on Saturday night near the town of Paleochori Kavalas. Witnesses saw the plane on fire and heard explosions, the Athens News reported.
According to media reports, the plane had just applied for an emergency landing permit at Greece’s Kavala airport, but was unable to complete the maneuver in time.
Source: BFM TV
