A DHL cargo plane crashes near an airport in Lithuania, killing one person

Early Monday morning, a DHL (DHLn.DE), opens new tab cargo plane crashed as it was coming in to land at Lithuania’s Vilnius airport. One person on board died, and the plane’s debris damaged a house that had to be evacuated.

Officials say that no one on the ground was hurt, but the three other people on board were hurt and at least one of them was in serious condition. As firefighters worked to put out the fire, flames and smoke filled the wrecked plane.

Flightradar24 says the Boeing (BA.N), starts new tab 737-400 jet that crashed at 03:30 GMT was being flown by Swiftair for the German logistics company DHL. It had taken off from Leipzig, Germany at 02:08 GMT.

Lithuanian officials said there were no signs of mischief so far. However, Germany is looking into several fires that started earlier this year when explosives were hidden in packages at a warehouse in Leipzig that were going to be delivered by DHL. The crash on Monday was also being looked into by German officials.

“We cannot rule out the possibility of terrorism,” Lithuanian counterintelligence chief Darius Jauniskis told reporters.But we can’t blame anyone or make accusations right now because we don’t have enough knowledge.

DHL said in a statement that the plane, which was coming from Leipzig, Germany, “made a forced landing” about 0.6 miles (kilometers) from VNO airport. They also said that they still didn’t know what caused the crash. A DHL representative refused to give more information.

At the same time, Lithuanian officials said that the pilots had not shown any unusual behavior while talking on the radio with the plane.

“The pilots did not tell the tower of any unusual events until the very end of the recording of their conversation,” said Marius Baranauskas, head of the Lithuanian National Aviation Authority.

“We need to examine the black boxes to know what was happening in the aircraft.”

Kotryna Ciupailaite, who lives in Vilnius, said the plane flew low over her car on her way to work.

“Before it crashed, the plane’s right wing went down, as if it were trying to turn.” He said, “Before the plane hit the ground, there was something shiny coming out of the right side of it, like sparks or a flame.”

She showed Reuters a video taken through the window of her car, which she said was taken soon after the crash and showed a big fire beyond a group of trees.

“Oh my God,” she cried out in the video.

Swiftair said the plane crashed in a civilian area close to Vilnius Airport and that it had set up a call center to help the families of those who died.

Once it hit, the plane broke into pieces.

A security camera caught an airplane lowering itself behind a building. The sky then lit up with bright red and orange lights, followed by thick, dark smoke plumes.

When the plane hit the ground, it broke up into pieces and slid over 100 meters (110 yards). A house was hit by some debris, and the 14 people who lived there had to be removed.

The government of Lithuania said that police and judges in Lithuania have started a criminal investigation into what happened. A special unit in the Justice Ministry will also look into what happened in civil aviation.

“These investigations are the only ones that can answer questions about what really happened.” “Hunts and speculations won’t really help us find the truth,” Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said in a statement.

PARCELS AS USUAL

A Lithuanian police spokesman said that one person on board, a Spanish citizen, was killed and that three others, also Spanish, German, and Lithuanian, were hurt.

A representative for DHL’s Lithuanian branch said that the company has begun its own probe into the crash.

“Regular packages were carried by the plane.” She said, “We don’t know anything that makes any of them suspicious.”

Both a spokesman for the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and Nancy Faeser, the German interior minister, said it was too early to say what caused the crash.

A website on Flightradar24 says the plane was 31 years old. A Boeing spokesperson said that the company was looking for more details and would offer any help.

Along with the German investigations, British police are looking into a warehouse fire in Birmingham in July that started when a package caught fire. They are also talking to other European police to see if there is a link between these fires and others that happened at the same time.