Greece filed an official complaint with Serbia and Ukraine after a cargo plane carrying mortar ammunition crashed while attempting an emergency landing in northern Greece on Saturday night, Ekathimerini reports.
According to Greek diplomatic sources, the complaint will protest the failure of Serbia and Ukraine to brief Athens about the dangerous cargo carried by the Antonov plane.
Themistoklis Demiris, secretary-general of Greece’s Foreign Ministry, made the complaint to Ukraine’s ambassador in Athens, Sergii Shutenko.
Greece’s ambassador in Belgrade will deliver the demarche to Serbia, AP News reports.
Eight crew members on the An-12 cargo plane, operated by a Ukrainian company, were killed in the crash on Saturday outside the northern Greek city of Kavala. The crash was followed by at least two hours of explosions.
Serbian officials said the plane had been carrying 11.5 tons of Serbian-made mortar ammunition to Bangladesh, and had been due to make a stopover in Amman, Jordan.
Fire Service spokesman, Yiannis Artopios, said no hazardous substances were detected following a crash site inspection by army specialists from a nuclear, chemical and biological defence division.
The ammunition was scattered over a 500-meter radius at the crash site and was expected to take several days to clear.
Source: AP News and Ekathimerini.
