A DHL cargo plane crashed into a house in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, killing one person on board and injuring three passengers, authorities in the Baltic nation said Monday.
The plane was traveling from the German city of Leipzig, but around 5:30 a.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET Sunday) it crashed on Pea Street, an arterial road running through the city, less than a mile short of its destination airport.
Lithuania’s national police force told NBC News in an emailed statement: “According to preliminary data, a cargo aircraft carrying 4 people crashed near the Vilnius International airport at 5.30 AM local time. 1 person was declared dead, 3 injured.”
The Department of Fire Protection and Rescue said in a statement: “It turned out that a cargo plane had crashed and a residential house caught fire. According to initial data, firefighters rescued three victims from the wreckage of the plane and extracted one dead person.”
An investigation has been launched in the cause of the crash.
A spokesperson for the government’s National Crisis Management Center confirmed that the residents of the house survived, Reuters reported. Police said at a new conference that 12 people were evacuated from the house.
The Republic Vilnius University Hospital told Lithuanian national broadcaster LRT that it was treating two people injured in the crash but would not confirm their condition.
Vilnius Airport confirmed the crash in a statement and said special services and rescue teams were working at the scene.
NBC News has reached out to DHL for comment.
