Thessaloniki (Greece), Jul 17 (AP) Authorities say an Antonov plane has crashed near the city of Kavala in northern Greece.

The plane was headed from Serbia to Jordan, but Civil Aviation authorities have not been able to confirm whether it was a passenger or cargo flight, or how many people were on the plane.

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The pilot managed to alert authorities about a problem in one of the plane's engines and he was given the choice of landing in either the Thessaloniki or Kavala airports. He opted for Kavala, which was closer, but the plane crashed about 40 kilometers west of the airport, Greece's Civil Aviation authority said.

The fire service said in a statement that it has cordoned off the area.

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Local media have reported that people close to the crash site saw a fireball and heard a series of explosions after the crash. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)