DHL Cargo Plane Crashes Near Airport in Lithuania, Killing 1

Europe|DHL Cargo Plane Crashes Near Airport in Lithuania, Killing 1

A DHL cargo plane crashed in a residential area near an airport in Vilnius, Lithuania, killing one person on board, hospitalizing three others and setting a house ablaze, officials said.

The plane crashed just outside Vilnius Airport at about 5:30 a.m., the airport said in a statement. The flight had departed from Leipzig, Germany.

The authorities were investigating the cause, Ramunas Matonis, a spokesman for Lithuania’s police department, said.

One of the four people on board was killed, Tadas Vasiliauskas, a spokesman for Lithuanian Airports, which manages Vilnius Airport, said in a phone interview.

The DHL plane, operated by Swiftair, a company based in Spain, crashed just before it was set to land, Mr. Vasiliauskas said.

The plane crashed near a two-story home, burst into flames and set the building on fire, Renata Liaudanskiene, a spokeswoman for Lithuania’s Fire and Rescue Department, said by email. The house’s 12 residents were evacuated and none were injured, she said.

Three people were pulled from the wreckage of the plane and transported to a hospital, Ms. Liaudanskiene said. One is from Lithuania, one from Germany and one from Spain. Two of the people on the plane were pilots, and the other two were passengers, she said.

By about 7:30 a.m., emergency workers had contained the fire, Ms. Liaudanskiene said.

A representative for DHL did not respond to a request for information about the crash.

This is a developing story.