DHL Cargo Plane from Germany Crashes in Lithuania Near Vilnius, At Least One Fatality
A plane departing from the German city of Leipzig crashed near Vilnius International Airport. At least one person was killed in the crash, and emergency services were sent to the crash site, LRT and DW reported.
‘One crew member was found without signs of life, two were rescued and taken to hospital,’ said Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the country's National Crisis Management Centre (NKVC).
There were four people on board, but authorities are reporting conflicting information about whether they have found Liu, according to Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas, who said the plane ‘accidentally’ missed a house and crashed in the yard. ‘All 12 residents of the house are safe and have been evacuated,’ Benkunskas said.
Earlier, German security authorities warned of ‘unconventional incendiary devices’ being sent by unknown persons via freight transport providers. Therefore, the security authorities sent a warning to aviation and logistics companies.
It also became known that the Polish Prosecutor's Office claims that the arson attacks on parcels in the logistics centres of courier companies that took place this summer in Poland, Germany and the UK were an attempt to sabotage flights to the US and Canada. In Britain, they say it was the work of Russian agents.
In July, a fire broke out for three days in a container that was supposed to be loaded onto a DHL plane in the German city of Leipzig.
A fire also occurred at a transport company near Warsaw. A similar fire broke out in Minworth, UK. Ken McCallum, head of the British domestic intelligence service MI5, said that ‘arson, sabotage and more dangerous acts of increasing recklessness’ were carried out by Russian secret agents. According to him, this happened after the UK helped Ukraine in its war with Russia.
In turn, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence service (BfV) called it a lucky accident that the device in Leipzig did not explode in midair.
Polish prosecutor Katarzyna Kalov-Jaszewska said that the parcels contained hidden explosives. According to her, a group of saboteurs was involved.
The parcels were sent through courier companies, then they spontaneously caught fire or exploded.