Crash in Greece: Antonov plane bursts into flames

A cargo plane crashed near the northeast Greek city of Kavala late in the evening.

Crash in Greece: Antonov plane bursts into flames

A cargo plane crashed near the northeast Greek city of Kavala late in the evening. The Antonow with eight people on board is said to have already burned in the air.

A cargo plane has crashed in northeastern Greece. According to information from the Greek television station ERT, the machine had already caught fire before it crashed near the village of Paleochori Kavalas. This is also shown by cell phone recordings by eyewitnesses.

The machine is said to be an Antonov cargo plane that was on its way from Nis in Serbia to the Jordanian capital Amman, according to the Flightradar24 internet service on Twitter. The flight tracker also documented the plane's route. This shows that the Antonov turned around over the northern Aegean and flew towards Kavala. At the airport there, the crew is said to have requested an emergency landing, reported Greek state television. According to media reports, eight people were on board, but nothing is known about the victims.

The ANA news agency quoted eyewitnesses as saying several explosions could be heard. Live recordings from the state broadcaster ERT show a large fire at the crash site. The fire brigade is on site with seven fire engines, but cannot approach the crash site because of the ongoing explosions. Eyewitnesses told journalists that the plane passed very close to the villages of Paleochori and Antifilippi, but then crashed into an uninhabited area.