Serbian authorities have confirmed that a plane traveling from Serbia to Bangladesh crashed near Kavala on July 16.

Residents saw a fireball lighting up the sky. Explosions were also being heard two hours after the accident.

The cargo plane, an Antonov An-12, was carrying weapons such as landmines when it left Niš in Serbia on its way to Amman in Jordan.

The plane went down at around 11 pm. Soon after, the pilot informed air traffic controllers that the aircraft had engine problems. He had also told them he had to make an emergency landing.

The pilot was directed to land the plane at the Kavala International Airport but did not make it there. The plane crashed close to the airport.

There were eight people on the flight, and they all perished in the crash. Only small fragments of the plane were left after it crashed.

After the plane crashed in a village between two Greek villages, it kept burning until the morning. Firefighters could not get close enough because there were concerns that the smoke from the fire could be toxic.

Following the crash, villagers were advised to wear masks, stay in their homes, and keep their windows closed.

An hour after the crash, Filippos Anastassiadis, the mayor of Paggaio, told the media that explosions were being heard until about a few minutes earlier from a distance of about 300 meters from the crash site.

Explosive experts are readying themselves to search the crash site to determine what the plane was carrying. So far, drones are being used to survey the scene.

Marios Apostolidis, Lieutenant General of the Northern Greece Fire Brigade, told the media that air measurements had not shown anything to worry about. However, he pointed out that instability in the field had been observed.

He pointed out that there was intense smoke and heat and a white substance that they were yet to identify. For this reason, a special armed forces team has to determine what the substance is and confirm if it is safe to get into the field.

The crashed plane was being operated by Meridian, a Ukrainian cargo airline. No links have been established between the plane and the ongoing war in Ukraine.