Germany Cargo plane from Leipzig crashes into residential building in Lithuania

A cargo plane taking off from Leipzig on behalf of the postal service provider DHL crashed into a residential building near the airport in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius early this morning. At least one person was killed and three others were injured, the BNS news agency quoted a spokeswoman for the emergency services as saying. Numerous emergency services were deployed at the scene. Traffic at the scene of the accident was restricted.

According to preliminary data from the rescue service, the emergency services were informed at 5:28 a.m. local time that a cargo plane had crashed into a building. It was said to be a two-storey residential building that was on fire.

According to initial reports, four people were on the plane. One person was dead and three others were injured and taken to hospital.

The head of the Lithuanian DHL subsidiary confirmed to Lithuanian radio that the plane belonged to one of the company's contractors. The cause of the accident is still unclear.

German security authorities issued a warning

At the end of August, it became known that German security authorities were warning of "unconventional incendiary devices" being sent by unknown persons via freight service providers. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) sent out a corresponding warning to companies in the aviation and logistics sector.

The warning was linked in security circles to an incident at the DHL logistics center in Leipzig, which acts as the company's global hub. In July, a parcel sent from the Baltic States containing an incendiary device is said to have caught fire there.

The word Russia did not appear in the warning from the BfV and BKA. Nevertheless, security circles are not ruling out a connection with the increasing cases of Russian sabotage in Germany.

SDA