Vilnius: A DHL cargo plane crashed near Vilnius airport on Monday, at about 0330 GMT, resulting in the killing of at least one person. Lithuania firefighters were seen pouring water onto large smoke from a building which is 1.3 km north of the airport runway. A large police and ambulance presence was seen nearby, and several nearby major streets were cordoned off.
The airplane, which was operated by SWIFT airline on behalf of DHL, originated from Leipzig and fell on a house, a spokesperson for the governmental National Crisis Management Center said. Lithuanian's public broadcaster LRT, quoting an emergency official, said two people had been taken to the hospital after the crash, and one was later pronounced dead. LRT said the aircraft smashed into a two-storey home near the airport.
VIDEO: Emergency responders on site after DHL cargo plane crashes near Vilnius airport
Flight operations resumed: Airport
The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a “DHL cargo plane flying from Leipzig, Germany, to Vilnius Airport.” It posted on the social platform X that city services including a fire truck were on site. DHL Group, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, did not immediately return a call for comment. Later, it was posted that the operations resumed as usual.
The DHL aircraft was operated by Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor. The carrier could not be immediately reached. The Boeing 737 was 31 years old, which is considered by experts to be an older airframe, though that's not unusual for cargo flights.
Earlier today, the engine of a Russian plane with 95 people on board caught fire after landing at Antalya airport in southern Turkey, Turkey's transportation ministry said. All passengers and crew were safely evacuated. The Sukhoi Superjet 100 type aircraft run by Azimuth Airlines had taken off from Sochi and was carrying 89 passengers and six crew members on Sunday, the ministry said in a statement.
