Ukraine officially confirmed the death of eight crew members of the An-12 aircraft that crashed in northern Greece

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry confirmed the crash of the Ukrainian An-12 transport aircraft in Greece. The crew consisted of eight citizens of Ukraine. Oleg Nikolenko, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, reported the crash on Facebook .

At night, a Ukrainian transport aircraft AN-12 crashed in northern Greece, which was transporting dangerous goods on the Serbia-Jordan-Bangladesh route. The crew consisted of eight citizens of Ukraine. The preliminary cause of the accident is the failure of one of the engines, he wrote.

Nikolenko also noted that an operational headquarters was created on the basis of the Ukrainian consulate in Thessaloniki. Ukrainian consuls have already arrived at the crash site, interacting with rescuers and law enforcement officers of Greece to clarify all the circumstances of the incident.

Rescue work continues and firefighting continues.

"Hot line" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for relatives: +38 (044) -238-15-88.

According to the BBC, citing Greek officials, the plane was lost during surveillance 10 nautical miles west of Kavala. Journalists said the plane was carrying a 12-ton cargo that was "potentially dangerous." The pilot reportedly requested an emergency landing at Kavala Airport due to an engine problem, but was unable to reach the runway.

Footage has surfaced online showing the plane already on fire during its descent. After hitting the ground, a powerful explosion occurred.

As a preventive measure due to the strong smell emanating from the crash site, authorities have asked the residents of the two nearest settlements to the crash site to keep their windows closed all night, stay indoors and wear masks.

Later, Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic confirmed that the Ukrainian An-12 aircraft that crashed in Greece was carrying Serbian-made defense products. Stefanovich stated this in an appeal .

The plane took off at about 20:40 from the city of Nis and transported about 11.5 tons of our defense industry products to the end customer in Bangladesh. The Ministry of Defense of Bangladesh was the customer,” he said.

The flight was to make technical landings in Amman, Riyadh and Ahmedabad, and its final destination was to be the city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

The owner of the goods was a private company Valir from Serbia. This flight had all the relevant permits, all in accordance with international rules,” Stefanovich said.

The head of the Serbian Ministry of Defense also confirmed that all members of the An-12 crew were killed, and its owner is a Ukrainian company.