The Athens News Agency (ANA) reported that an investigation will be launched into the causes of the accident. “We heard a deafening noise (and saw) a fireball approaching the ground. Then came the explosion,” Sofia, a mother of three from the nearby village of Antifilipoi, told ANA. Local resident Giorgos Archontopoulos told state-run ERT that he felt something was wrong as soon as he heard the aircraft overhead. “At 22:45 I was startled by the sound of the plane’s engine,” he said. “I came out and saw the engine on fire.” “If it had crashed a few seconds earlier, it would have hit our house,” 80-year-old Michalis Emmanouilidis told ANA, visibly upset. The Ukrainian consul in Thessaloniki, Vadim Sampluk, visited the area on Sunday and the Greek Foreign Ministry expressed its “sincere condolences” to the families of the victims. ANA said Shambluck confirmed the crew’s identities and the plane’s destination. Serbia’s defense minister said the arms shipment was not connected to Russia’s war in Ukraine. “Unfortunately, some media are speculating that the plane was carrying weapons bound for Ukraine, but this is completely untrue,” he said.
