Missing airliner wreck found, search plane also crashes

KATERINI (GREECE), December 20: The wreckage of a Ukrainian airliner, missing for three days with 70 people aboard, was found at the foot o...

KATERINI (GREECE), December 20: The wreckage of a Ukrainian airliner, missing for three days with 70 people aboard, was found at the foot of Mount Olympus today.

“Land forces are rushing there now and our first concern is to search for any survivors,” Macedonia and Thrace minister Philippos Petsalnikos said.

The Russian-built Yakovlev 42 airliner, which vanished from radar screens on Wednesday, was spotted about 40 km from this northern Greek town by a military helicopter combing the area during a brief spell of clear weather.

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“The area has been banned to civilians. The helicopter only saw debris in a steep gorge and it was all covered by snow,” a defence ministry official said.

Relatives of those aboard the plane who gathered at Salonika airport to wait for news were being informed of developments by Petsalnikos and his staff.Ironically, a Greek air force C-130 plane involved in the search for the wreckage of the airliner crashed today morning north of Athens, a military source revealed. First reports said none of the five crew on board had survived. The plane crashed shortly before landing at a base at Tanagra, 100 kms north of Athens.

Heavy snow and thick fog stymied search efforts. Authorities had pinned their hopes on a NATO plane that can detect metal from the air.

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