Cargo plane crashed - What we know and what we don't know

A cargo plane that took off from Leipzig on behalf of the postal service provider DHL crashed early this morning near the airport in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. It was only in August that warnings were issued about incendiary devices that unknown persons could be sending via freight service providers. However, the reasons behind the early morning crash are still completely unclear. An overview:

What we know

• The plane was traveling on behalf of the postal service provider DHL and took off from Leipzig in the early morning. According to DHL, it was a Swift Air aircraft. It was traveling on behalf of DHL.
• According to DHL, it was on its way to Vilnius airport.
• According to initial information, four people were on board.
• According to initial information, at least one person was killed and others were injured and taken to hospital.
• According to DHL, the aircraft made an emergency landing.
• According to the emergency services, the emergency services were informed at 5.28 am. The accident site is located in a district of Vilnius called Liepkalnis.
• The situation at the scene of the accident was confusing in the early morning. Numerous emergency services were on the scene, and a journalist from Lithuanian radio reported that many parts of the plane had been thrown around.
• Some debris also hit a residential building in which three families lived. According to the emergency services, all twelve residents are safe. Images showed smoke rising from between trees at a residential building.
• According to the Lithuanian police chief, the crash occurred shortly before landing. The plane tried to land and did not reach the runway, said Arunas Paulauskas.

What we don't know

• It was initially unclear exactly how many people were injured and how seriously. It was also uncertain whether there could have been other fatalities - on the ground, for example. The identities of the victims were also initially uncertain.
• Why the plane crashed was initially completely unclear. It was "most likely due to a technical error or human error", said police chief Paulauskas. However, he could not rule out other causes - such as a terrorist attack.
• At the end of August, it became known that German security authorities were warning of "unconventional incendiary devices" being sent by unknown persons via freight service providers. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) sent out a corresponding warning to companies in the aviation and logistics sector. In July, a parcel sent from the Baltic states is said to have contained an incendiary device and caught fire at the DHL logistics center in Leipzig. Whether there is any suspicion of sabotage in the case of the plane that has now crashed was completely unclear.