A DHL cargo plane has crashed into a house near the Lithuanian capital, killing a Spanish crewmember.
The head of the country’s police said plane crashed shortly before landing at Vilnius airport on Monday morning.
The cargo aircraft was carrying four people when it crashed at 5.30am local time (3.30am GMT).
The circumstances of the accident are still being investigated.
The person who was killed was a member of the flight crew but not a pilot, officials said. Firefighters freed two pilots from the cockpit, one of whom was more seriously injured, according to the General Commissioner of the Lithuanian Police Arunas Paulauskas.
He said that investigators were considering possible causes including technical failure and human error, and have not ruled out the possibility of a terrorist act.
Prime minister Ingrida Simonyte cautioned against speculation, saying investigators needed time to do their job.
“The responsible agencies are working diligently,” Ms Simonyte said.
“I urge everyone to have confidence in the investigating authorities’ ability to conduct a thorough and professional investigation within an optimal timeframe.
“Only these investigations will uncover the true causes of the incident – speculation and guesswork will not help establish the truth.”
“Residential infrastructure around the house was on fire, and the house was slightly damaged, but we managed to evacuate people.”
The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a “DHL cargo plane flying from Leipzig, Germany, to Vilnius Airport.”
Ms Simonyte said after meeting with rescue officials: “Thankfully, despite the crash occurring in a residential area, no lives have been lost among the local population.”
Authorities did not immediately offer a cause for the crash. Weather at the airport was around freezing temperature, with clouds before sunrise and winds of around 18mph.
Weather at Vilnius International Airport was around freezing temperatures, with clouds before sunrise.
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 Is not unusual for cargo flights.
