By: Weston Ma

A cargo plane delivering weapons and other items to Bangladesh crashed in a field in northern Greece. All residents in a 2-kilometer span of the crash have been warned to stay indoors for the time being. The aircraft was flying from Serbia to Jordan when the Pilot requested an emergency landing due to an engine problem. The airport he requested to land at was Kavala airport in Greece; however, they did not make it to the airport in time. All eight people on board died.

A video of the incident showed the plane on fire erupting into a fireball as it crashed into the ground. Aimilia Tsaptanova, who witnessed the whole thing, said she was shocked that the plane didn’t crash into her home. “It was full of smoke, it had a noise I can’t describe, and it went over the mountain. It passed the mountain and turned and crashed into the fields. There were flames, we were scared. A lot of cars came, but they couldn’t approach because there were continuous explosions,” she said.

Nebojša Stefanovic, Serbia’s Defense Minister, said that the plane was carrying Serbian-made weapons to Bangladesh. He said the plane was carrying, “illuminating mortar mines and training (mines),” adding that the flight “had all necessary permissions in accordance with international regulations.” An arms dealer said there were landmines aboard, and the spokesman for the Bangladesh military public relations office said there were mortar shells bought from Serbia onboard.

The plane was due to stop in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and India before going to the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka. The plane was run by a Ukrainian company called Meridian, and the crew was also Ukrainian.