Greece lodged a formal complaint with Serbia on Monday after a cargo plane carrying ammunition crashed while attempting an emergency landing in northern Greece.

"The Greek ambassador in Belgrade has been instructed to make a complaint to Serbia (to the government) to emphasize the need for the Greek authorities to be notified in advance of the nature of the shipment," said a Greek government official who requested anonymity pending an official announcement, AP writes, Telegraph reports.

Eight crew members on the An-12 cargo plane, operated by a Ukrainian company, were killed in Saturday's crash outside the northern Greek city of Kavala, which was followed by at least two hours of explosions.

Serbian officials said the plane was carrying 11.5 tons of Serbian-made mortar ammunition to Bangladesh and would make a stop in Amman, Jordan.

Meanwhile, demining teams were working at the crash site for a second day, in a cordoned-off field about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Kavala International Airport.

The spokesman of the Fire Service, Yiannis Artopios, has announced that no dangerous substances were detected after an inspection of the crash site by army specialists from a nuclear, chemical and biological defense division.

All the dead crew members are believed to be Ukrainian nationals, Artopios said.

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Telegraph

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