Lithuania: ‘Terrorism Not Excluded In DHL Plane Crash’ (Worthy News In-Depth)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

VILNIUS/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Lithuania said Monday that it could not exclude terrorism as the cause of a DHL cargo plane crash just outside the Vilnius airport that killed the Spanish pilot and injured the three other crew members.

“We cannot rule out the case of terrorism. We have warned that such things are possible, we see an increasingly aggressive Russia… but we cannot make any attributions or point fingers yet,” State Security Department chief Darius Jauniskis said.

Monday’s plane crash at a residential building came a month after European intelligence agencies warned Russia was “trying to sabotage cargo flights with small bombs.”

However, Laurynas Kasciunas, Lithuania’s defence minister, suggested waiting for the investigation’s outcome.

“So far, there are no signs or facts that this is a sabotage or terrorist act; there really aren’t any. [However] It is said that there was some kind of external influence on the plane,” he added.

In October, German police said that a small incendiary device exploded at a DHL warehouse in Leipzig before it was due to be loaded on a flight.

British counter-terrorism police are also investigating a similar device that caught fire in a warehouse in Birmingham in July after being flown on a DHL flight from Leipzig, Worthy News learned.

RUSSIAN DEVICES

According to sources familiar with the investigation, the devices originated in Lithuania, on Russia’s border.

Like its Baltic neighbors, Lithuania is a NATO military alliance ally and member of the European Union and supports Ukraine’s battle against invading Russian forces.

The country has a significant ethnic Russian minority and is thought to have been infiltrated by Kremlin agents.

Germany is investigating several fires caused by incendiary devices hidden inside parcels at a warehouse in Leipzig for delivery by DHL earlier this year.

On Monday, German logistics company DHL confirmed that the cargo aircraft operated by its partner SwiftAir had made an “emergency landing” in Lithuania.

Lithuanian police said the Boeing 737-400F, flying from the eastern German city of Leipzig, skidded several hundred meters, hitting a residential house which was set on fire, smaller buildings, and a car.

The firefighters confirmed one person from the plane’s four-member crew died in the crash that happened as the plane was due to land in Vilnius.

SPANISH DEATH

Police later said the deceased person was Spanish and that the other three injured crew members were Spanish, German, and Lithuanian nationals.

“Thankfully, despite the crash occurring in a residential area, no lives have been lost among the local population,” Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė said after meeting with rescue officials.

Images from the crash site in Vilnius showed debris from the plane, and packages on fire scattered across the residential area cordoned off by the emergency services.

German logistics company DHL confirmed the cargo aircraft was operated by its partner SwiftAir and had made an “emergency landing” in Lithuania.

“We were woken by the sound of an explosion. We saw a wave of explosions and a cloud of fire through the window. Like fireworks,” recalled Stanislovas Jakimavicius, who lives around 300 meters (985 feet) from the crash site.

The head of the National Crisis Management Centre, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, confirmed that the residential building was successfully evacuated, and its 12 residents were moved to safety.

With residents safe, investigators rushed to find the reasons behind Monday’s crash that shocked residents.

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