Investigations are continuing to find the causes of the crash of the Antonov cargo aircraft on Saturday evening near the town of Kavala in northern Greece, while a team of US experts arrived in the area to join the investigation into both the cause of the crash and the identity of the cargo.
Earlier, the members of the special interdisciplinary company of Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Defence of the General Staff had arrived to investigate and verify the origin of a white substance found in the vicinity of the debris.
According to a spokesman for the Fire Department, “no hazardous substances were detected in the area where the Antonov aircraft crashed on Saturday (16 July) following the measurements taken.”
The accompanying cargo documents stated that the Antonov was carrying 11.5 tons of ammunition, namely 60mm M62 mortar training rounds, 82mm M62 mortar training rounds and 82mm M67 mortar illumination rounds.
According to diplomatic sources from the Greek foreign ministry, on the minister’s instructions, representations were made regarding the need for the Greek side to be informed in advance about the nature of the aircraft’s cargo, both to the Serbian Foreign Ministry by the Greek Ambassador in Belgrade and to the Ukrainian Ambassador in Athens.
However, the identity of the cargo aircraft raises questions, as the Ukrainian-owned aircraft, chartered by an American company that loads ammunition from Serbia for transport to Bangladesh, did not strictly adhere to the protocols and security measures.
The crash has also provoked a reaction from the opposition parties in Greece, which are demanding immediate information from the government.
The opposition party SYRIZA in a statement questioned: “What was the actual cargo and “dangerous material? Why was there no information about the cargo of the Ukrainian Antonov? What was the real origin and what was the real final destination of the cargo?” while adding that “clear answers are due immediately. It is unthinkable that Greece is taking a risk by sending weapons to Ukraine and that they are likely to end up on the black market along with those of other countries.”
The Antonov 12 transport aircraft took off from Nis on Saturday at around 20:40 pm (Serbian time) carrying 11.5 tonnes of ammunition and crashed at around 23:00 (Greek time) near the airport of Eleftheroupoli. All eight crew members of Ukrainian origin, were killed.
