All eight crew members of a cargo plane that crashed near the Greek city of Kavala have died in the accident, Serbia's defence minister said. 

The Antonov An-12 was carrying around 11 tonnes of weapons as well as mines to Bangladesh when it crashed on Saturday night, Nebojsa Stefanovic said on Sunday.

Earlier, local residents reported seeing a fireball and hearing explosions for two hours after the crash.

But local officials said they had no specific information on the cargo and provided varying numbers of people on board.

As a precaution because of a strong smell emanating from the crash site, a coordinating committee made up of municipal, police and fire service officials told inhabitants of the two localities closest to the crash site to keep their windows shut all night, to not leave their homes and to wear masks. 

Authorities say they do not know if there were any dangerous chemicals on the plane, including those contained in batteries. 

Greece’s Civil Aviation authority said 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, and he opted for Kavala, which was closer, saying that he had to make an emergency landing.

Communication with the plane ceased almost immediately afterwards. The plane crashed about 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of the airport.

“We were hearing explosions until a few minutes ago," Filippos Anastassiadis, mayor of the municipality of Paggaio, told the Associated Press a little over an hour after the accident. 

“I am about 300 meters from the site of the crash."

One of Anastassiadis' deputies told state broadcaster ERT that explosions were heard for two hours following the crash.

Locals reported seeing a fireball and a plume of smoke before the crash.