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Crashed An-12 plane carried Serbian weapons to Bangladesh, not Ukraine — minister

The Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said the flight destined to Dhaka had "all the necessary licenses under all global norms"

BELGRADE, July 17. /TASS/. A Ukrainian An-12 plane that crashed in Greece late on Saturday was carrying Serbian arms to Bangladesh, Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic said on Sunday, blasting as inaccurate reports claiming that the plane was transporting a military cargo to Ukraine.

"Unfortunately, according to data at our disposal, the eight crew members were killed in the crash. The aircraft left Serbia’s Nis at 20:40 local time [21:40 Moscow time on Saturday] carrying 11.5 tonnes of our military products to an end customer in Bangladesh, with the Bangladeshi Defense Ministry acting as a fully authorized buyer," Stefanovic said, commenting on the An-12 crash in Greece. The plane was owned by a Ukrainian firm, Meridian, and the seller was a private Serbian company, he specified.

The Serbian minister said the flight destined to Dhaka had "all the necessary licenses under all global norms."

"The fake reports saying the plane was carrying Serbian weapons to Ukraine are absolutely inaccurate and malicious," he stressed.

The An-12 plane crashed 40 km away from the Greek Kavala airport. The crew reported that one of the plane’s four engines had caught fire. Permission for an emergency landing was granted promptly, but the flight started rapidly losing altitude while approaching the airport.

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