DHL cargo plane crashes into house near Vilnius, Lithuania

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An air disaster occurred early this morning near Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital. For reasons still unknown, a plane chartered by the company DHL crashed near the international airport.

The plane ended its course on a house, killing at least one person. Lithuanian state broadcaster LRT, citing an emergency services official, said two people were taken to hospital after the accident and one was later pronounced dead. The two pilots were able to be extracted from the cockpit.

The aircraft had taken off from Leipzig, Germany and was scheduled to land in Vilnius. Immediately after the crash, a major emergency response was deployed, notably to evacuate a dozen local residents.

An investigation will be opened to determine the circumstances of this air tragedy. The only certainty was that the temperature was close to 0°C and the sky was cloudy. As for the plane, a 31-year-old Boeing 737, it was operated by Swiftair, a company based in Madrid.