Cargo plane crashes into home in EU country

25.11.2024 12:32

Photo: Screenshot / Social media

A cargo plane en route from Germany has crashed meters away from a residential house in Vilnius, Lithuania, igniting a fire on the ground, local media and officials said on Monday, adding that at least one person was killed.

According to TV3, the incident occurred at around 5:30am local time when an aircraft belonging to German DHL logistics company, which was traveling from Leipzig to Vilnius Airport, went down in the municipality of Liepkalnis.

The outlet reported that there were four people on the plane, while the newspaper Lrytas said, citing local police, that one pilot was killed in the crash. Officials also said that two other crew members, including the second pilot, were pulled from the plane “with signs of life.”

According to local officials, the incident also caused a fire at the scene, but preliminary data indicated that the residents of the affected house are all alive, with a dozen people evacuated.

Photos shared by local media show a large fire raging in the urban area next to several houses, with a heavy presence of paramedics and fire crews at the scene. Renatas Pozela, the spokesperson for the Fire Protection and Rescue Department said that “it was lucky that the plane did not hit the house, but the yard.”

The incident did not disrupt the airport’s operations.