Cargo plane en route to Istanbul crashes in Ukraine

KIEV

Five crew members were killed and three injured on Oct. 4 when a Ukrainian Antonov-12 cargo airplane made an emergency landing near the western airport of Lviv after apparently running out of fuel and disappearing from radar, Ukrainian authorities said.

It is not clear what type of cargo was aboard the plane. Ukraine’s Unian news agency described it as a military cargo plane.

Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Vladyslav Krykliy announced the death toll on his Facebook page and said an investigation is underway.

He said the plane was carrying seven crew members and one passenger on Oct. 4 morning when it sought to make an emergency landing due to lack of fuel.

The regional emergency service said in a statement that emergency workers rescued three people from the wreckage who were hospitalized with injuries.

The Infrastructure Ministry said the plane planned a refueling stop in Lviv. Ukrainian news reports said it crashed 1.5 kilometers from the runway. The plane came down on soil and vegetation near a football stadium and a cemetery. Lviv airport has been closed because of the crash.

Spanish airport operator AENA confirmed that the cargo flight UKL4050 operated by Ukraine Air Alliance had departed from Vigo airport just after midnight on Oct. 4. The cargo plane had arrived in Vigo a day earlier from Toulouse, France.