One crew dead, three survive as cargo plane crashes near Vilnius airport

Helen Regan, Edward Szekeres, Sandi Sidhu and Manveena Suri, CNN

(CNN) — One crew member was killed after a cargo plane crashed early Monday on the outskirts of Vilnius Airport in Lithuania, skidded into a house and burst into flames.

Remarkably, three others on board the flight, including the pilot, survived the crash as well as 12 members of the home who were safely evacuated, according to local authorities.

The cargo plane flying from Leipzig, Germany was due to land at Vilnius Airport when it crashed a few kilometers from the runway.

The plane skidded on the ground for several hundred meters before hitting a residential home, Renatas Pozela, chief of Fire and Rescue Department, told reporters.

“One crew member was found without any signs of life,” said Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of the country’s National Crisis Management Center, according to public broadcaster LRT.

Vitkauskas later said at a press conference that it was “too early to make any conclusions” as to what caused the crash and the “circumstances and causes” were being investigated.

At least two crew members were taken to hospital, authorities said, and all four on board are now accounted for. There were no reported casualties on the ground.

The incident happened at about 5.30 a.m. local time (10 p.m. ET) near Zirniu Street, south of the capital, an airport spokesperson confirmed to CNN Monday.

“The city’s special services are working at the scene and leading the rescue efforts, as well as crews from the Vilnius Airport Fire Service,” the airport spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said due to “ongoing rescue work near Vilnius Airport,” departures for several aircraft have been delayed but that all scheduled flights were still taking off.

Reuters reported that the cargo plane that crashed was operated by SWIFT airline on behalf of DHL.

According to Vilnius mayor, Valdas Benkunskas, the plane narrowly missed hitting the house directly, crashing instead into the nearby courtyard, LRT reported.

Firefighters could be seen pouring water onto the building where a large plume of smoke billowed into the sky.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
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