The plane – a DHL Boeing 757 cargo plane – crashed near a residential house in the Lithuanian capital city of Vilnius before exploding into flames, killing one and injuring three others
Lithuania: DHL cargo plane crashes into building and explodes
Footage has shown the chilling moment a DHL plane falls from the sky before hitting a residental building killing one person after exploding into flames.
The plane – identified by Lietuvos Rytas news outlet as a DHL Boeing 757 cargo plane – is seen approaching the Lithuanian capital city of Vilnius before hitting the ground and igniting in flames. One person, believed to be the pilot, was killed in the crash. Three other crew members were rescued and hospitalised with injuries.
“We are working at the crash site. Initial data shows that registered residents of the house have been evacuated. The primary concern now is the aircraft crew—several have been rescued with signs of life. There were four crew members aboard,” said Renatas Požėla, a Fire and Rescue Department spokesperson.
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“We confirm one fatality. Two crew members were rescued alive, and one is still missing,” said Požėla. “We were fortunate the plane hit the yard and not the house directly,” he added.
The crash follows reports in recent months that mysterious explosions had occurred at DHL warehouses in Leipzig and Birmingham amid fears of a Russian covert sabotage operation intended to explode aircraft flying in the West. Bombs were disguised as massage devices filled with flammable substances instead of electronic components.
Lithuanian intelligence services were at the scene of today’s crash of a Boeing 737-400 of cargo airline Swiftair which DHL leases. There was no immediate reason given about the cause of today’s crash.
The 31-year-old Boeing 737 cargo aircraft was en route from Leipzig to Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital. It hit a two storey residential building on Žirnių Street at around 5:30am.
A dozen residents of the house where the plane crashed are alive, and were evacuated. Fire crews from nearby Vilnius Airport arrived at the scene.
Earlier reports of sabotage of DHL warehouses said that the intention was not to target the logistics centres but rather passenger and cargo planes carrying hazardous packages.