A DHL cargo plane came crashing down near Vilnius International Airport in Lithuania in the early hours of Monday(25th November), leaving at least one person dead and three others injured. According to Germany's foreign minister, as reported by Reuters, the incident was either an accident or an attack in "volatile times."
Per DW, the deceased was a Spanish national and a staffer, Lithuanian police have confirmed. As for the injured, there was a German, a Lithuanian, and another Spaniard. Flames and thick plumes of smoke wafted through the air as firefighters fought to calm the inferno.
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Cause yet to be determined, officials say it may have been an act of terrorism
As reported by CNN, the plane crashed into a house outside the airport. Three other people onboard the plane, including the pilot, were untouched, and so were the twelve people in the house. Everyone was evacuated safely.
The plane was coming in from Leipzig, Germany, and instead of making a safe landing on the runway, crashed elsewhere. It glided across the tarmac for a short distance before the collision, Renatas Pozela, chief of the Fire and Rescue Department said, per the outlet.
Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the country’s National Crisis Management Center, confirmed the casualty. As for the injured, they are currently in the hospital. Per Reuters, Lithuanian officials are investigating the case, and have yet to find any signs of foul play. A DHL Lithuania spokesperson told the outlet:
"We do not have any information that any of the parcels onboard the crashed cargo plane were suspicious."
Per DW, DHL said in a statement:
"We can confirm that today, at approximately 4:30 am CET [0330 GMT], a Swiftair aircraft, operated by a service partner on behalf of DHL, performed an emergency landing about one kilometer from VNO Airport [Vilnius, Lithuania] while en route from LEJ Airport [Leipzig, Germany] to VNO Airport."
However, Germany has been investigating a host of fires triggered by flammable devices earlier this year, all of which were concealed inside parcels. The incident took place at a DHL warehouse in Leipzig, awaiting delivery. Per the outlet, German investigators are currently "in close contact with the involved parties at home and abroad in order to clarify the issue as soon as possible."
The outlet has also reported that while the cause of the crash has yet to be determined, terrorism has not been ruled out. Lithuania's police chief Arunas Paulauskas said, before adding that collecting evidence, clues, and pertinent objects could take up to a week:
"This is one of the versions that needs to be investigated and verified. There is still much work ahead of us. These answers will not come so quickly."
Darius Jauniskis, chief of Lithuanian intelligence, echoed the concerns. Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also expressed suspicions:
"We must now seriously ask ourselves whether this was an accident or whether it was another hybrid incident."
Per CNN, surveillance footage shows the plane descending before hiding behind a building. Within moments, a massive explosion can be seen rising into the sky, followed by thick black smoke billowing into the air. The incident took place at around 5:28 a.m. local time near Zirniu Street.
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