During the trial in Lithuania against five individuals suspected of sending incendiary devices in courier packages, testimony from a DHL company representative made it clear just how narrowly an incident aboard a cargo plane was averted in July 2024. The fact that the package containing the incendiary device caught fire while still on the ground at the DHL logistics center at Leipzig Airport—and not during the flight—was attributed to the plane’s delay.
“We were lucky that the plane was delayed. It was scheduled to depart at 5:30 a.m., and the incendiary device detonated at 5:43 a.m.," the DHL representative, who was called as a witness, said in court in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, according to a report by the BNS news agency. He added that the consequences would have been far more serious if the fire had broken out during the flight. According to the report, the package caught fire shortly before being loaded.
During questioning, the DHL representative went on to explain how two of the four incendiary devices—allegedly sent by the defendants on behalf of the Russian intelligence service—were shipped via the courier service. One of them ignited at Leipzig Airport and set a cargo container on fire; the other did so in a warehouse in the United Kingdom. The container in question reportedly contained 140 packages.
