Specialists have been poised to go looking the location of a airplane crash in northern Greece early on Sunday to find out what sort of cargo it was carrying.
he Antonov An-12 cargo airplane, which took off from the town of Nis in Serbia on Saturday, and was heading to Amman in Jordan, crashed shortly earlier than 11pm native time, about 25 miles (40km) west of Kavala Worldwide Airport.
Minutes earlier, the pilot of the airplane, which was operated by Ukrainian cargo service Meridian, had informed air site visitors controllers there was an issue with one in all his engines and that he needed to make an emergency touchdown. He was directed to Kavala airport however by no means made it.
Particles from the Antonov cargo airplane crash in Palaiochori village in northern Greece (Giannis Papanikos/AP)
The airplane was a Soviet-era four-engine turboprop cargo service.
Greek media reported that there have been eight folks on the airplane and it was carrying 12 tons of “harmful supplies”, principally explosives. However native officers stated they’d no particular info on the cargo and offered barely various numbers of individuals on board.
Drone footage confirmed that small fragments have been all that remained of the airplane, which crashed in fields between two villages and dragged a small distance on the bottom.
Native residents reported seeing a fireball and listening to explosions for 2 hours after the crash.
A plume of white smoke was nonetheless rising from the entrance finish of the airplane on Sunday morning.
Native residents reported seeing a fireball and listening to explosions for 2 hours after the crash (Giannis Papanikos/AP)
Firefighters who rushed to the scene within the night time have been prevented from reaching the crash website by smoke and an intense scent which they feared is likely to be poisonous.
Close by residents have been informed to maintain their home windows shut all night time, to not go away their properties and to put on masks.
Authorities stated they have no idea if there have been harmful chemical substances on the airplane, together with these contained in batteries.
The groups of explosives specialists which is able to quickly function on website might be augmented by specialists from Greece’s Atomic Vitality Fee, authorities stated.
