Ukrainian cargo aircraft transporting defence items to Bangladesh crashes in Greece

In a sensational case a large cargo aircraft with Ukrainian citizens transporting defence items from Serbia to Bangladesh has crashed in northern Greece.

Serbia’s defence minister, Nebojša Stefanovic, on Sunday said the plane was carrying 11.5 tonnes of military products, including illuminating mortar shells and training shells, and the buyer was the Bangladesh defence ministry, according to a report in The Guardian.

Greek authorities said there were eight crew members onboard. A Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman said they were all Ukrainian citizens, The Guardian reported.


Video and witness reports suggested the Antonov An-12 plane caught fire while still in the air. Witnesses said they had heard explosions as it flew over the area on Saturday night, Athens News Agency reported. Greek authorities said the pilot had made an emergency call before crashing.

Greek Civil Aviation authorities said originally the flight was heading from Serbia to Jordan, although Amman later confirmed it was stopping there only to refuel, according to the Guardian report.

Ukrainian-based airline Meridian, which operated the aircraft, confirmed that all eight crew members had died in the crash.