DHL cargo plane crashes on approach to Lithuanian airport, one dead By Reuters
Written by Andrius Sytas
VILNIUS – A DHL cargo plane crashed when it arrived at the airport in Vilnius in Lithuania early in the morning and crashed into a house, killing one person on board.
Three others on the boat were injured but no one was injured on the ground, officials said.
The scheduled flight was operated by Swiftair on behalf of DHL and originated from Leipzig, Germany.
It crashed at around 0330 GMT while approaching the airport where it was heading, said a spokesman for the National Crisis Management Center of Lithuania.
Police and prosecutors are investigating the incident but there is no indication that there was an explosion before the accident, said a police spokesperson.
“Currently, we do not have any information that there was an explosion,” he said.
Counter-intelligence chief Darius Jauniskis told the media: “We cannot rule out the possibility of terrorism…But at the moment we cannot explain it or point fingers, because we do not have such information.”
An airport spokesman said the plane was a Boeing (NYSE: ) 737-400.
Rescuers said the plane hit the ground, broke into pieces and slid 110 meters before crashing into a building.
A spokesperson for the rescue service in Lithuania said that one passenger was killed and three were injured.
The police told a press conference that 12 people were evacuated from the house hit by the plane. There were no injuries on the ground.
Firefighters doused the smoldering building about 1.3 km (0.8 miles) north of the runway and nearby roads were cordoned off.
DHL and Boeing did not respond to requests for comment.
The flight left Leipzig at 0208 GMT, Flightradar24 said on X.
Germany is investigating several fires caused by incendiary devices hidden inside packages at a warehouse in Leipzig earlier this year.
Britain’s counter-terrorism police are investigating a warehouse fire in July, caused by a flammable package, and are contacting other European law enforcement agencies to see if there are any links to similar incidents elsewhere.
Security officials told Reuters the packages that exploded in warehouses in Europe were part of an investigation into a Russian plot to blow up cargo planes bound for the United States.
Leipzig Airport operator Mitteldeutsche The Flughafen (VIE:) AG declined to comment on the crash.
