Vilnius tragedy: DHL cargo plane crash claims life
A cargo plane belonging to the logistics company DHL crashed on Monday morning near the airport in Vilnius, damaging a residential building. As a result of the disaster, one of the four crew members died. The causes of the accident are currently being investigated.
At around 11:30 AM Eastern Time (ET), a Boeing 737 of the Spanish airline Swiftair, flying from Leipzig, clipped a private house while approaching the landing, leading to a fire outbreak — local authorities reported, as cited by the BBC. Earlier media reports suggested that the aircraft fell directly onto the building.
The Director of the Fire and Rescue Department, Renatas Požela, stated that the plane crashed several kilometres from the airport. After sliding a few hundred metres, it struck a house, "slightly damaging it." Dozens of police and fire brigade units are working at the scene.
During an urgent press conference, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC), informed that 12 residents were evacuated from the damaged house.
They managed to avoid casualties among the residents. As for the four-person crew of the plane, one person was killed, and two were transported to the hospital. One person has not yet been located — he added.
Vilnius plane crash. An investigation has been launched
The police chief, Arūnas Paulauskas, assessed that technical issues or human error could have caused the accident, but he noted that "we cannot rule out the possibility that there was an act of terror." He also pointed out that the plane was destroyed, and the cargo it was carrying was scattered over a large area.
NKVC announced that an investigation into the causes of the disaster has been launched, and all possible hypotheses will be examined. It was emphasized that the information available at this stage does not indicate an explosion on board the plane before the accident.
Due to the disaster, takeoffs from Vilnius airport were suspended for two hours, and they resumed at around 2:30 PM ET. Emergency services are still working at the scene.
