One dead after DHL cargo plane crashes in Lithuania

A DHL cargo plane has crashed into a house near the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, killing at least one of four people on board.

- MINDAUGAS KULBIS, JON GAMBRELL and ANDY GREGORY

Lithuania’s rescue chief Renatas Pozela said the Boeing 737-400 crashed shortly before its scheduled landing at Vilnius airport early yesterday morning, with authorities saying terror could not be discounted as they investigate the cause.

“It fell a few kilometres before the airport, it just skidded for a few hundred metres, its debris somewhat caught a residential house,” Mr Pozela said. “Residential infrastructure around the house was on fire, and the house was slightly damaged, but we managed to evacuate people.”

One person onboard was confirmed dead, while another three were injured, officials said. The person killed was a member of the flight crew but not a pilot. Firefighters freed two pilots from the cockpit, one seriously injured, according to police.

All of the people in the house survived, a spokesperson for the government’s National Crisis Management Centre said, adding that there was nothing currently to suggest that an explosion preceded the crash. Police said 12 people were evacuated from the house.