Cargo plane crashes in Lithuania, leaving crew member dead

A DHL cargo plane flying from Leipzig in Germany crashed near the Vilnius Airport in Lithuania on the morning of Nov. 25, leaving one crew member dead and two injured, local media reported.

The plane crashed a few kilometers south of the runway and hit a house, catching on fire. Three remaining people on board survived the crash, and 12 people were evacuated from the damaged house, according to authorities.

The Boeing 737-476(SF) plane, operated by a DHL contractor Swiftair, crashed at about 5.30 a.m. local time south of the capital, officials said.

Lithuanian authorities said it was too early to draw conclusions about the cause of the crash and that an investigation was underway.

Two DHL shipments flown from Lithuania to Leipzig caught fire in a warehouse earlier this year, with Western security officials reportedly suspecting Moscow of a sabotage plot. The fires could have led the cargo planes to crash if the fires happened during the flight.

Arunas Paulauskas, head of the Lithuanian Police, told the media that the Nov. 25 crash was "most likely due to a technical fault or a human error."

"The plane was landing and failed to reach the runway, these are the facts," he said, adding that terrorism "cannot be ruled out."

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The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk