Athens, July 17 (TIWN) A Ukrainian cargo plane with an eight-member crew on board crashed near Kavala city in northern Greece, Greek media reported.

The An-12 cargo plane, which took off from the city of Nis, Serbia, on Saturday, and was headed to Amman, Jordan, crashed shortly before 11 pm local time, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Kavala International Airport.  Minutes before, the pilot of the plane, which was operated by Ukrainian cargo carrier Meridian, had told air traffic controllers, that there was a problem with one of his engines and that he had to make an emergency landing. He was directed to Kavala airport but never made it there.  The plane is a Soviet-era four-engine turboprop cargo carrier.  Greek media reported there were eight people on the plane and that it was carrying 12 tons of dangerous materials, mostly explosives.