DHL cargo plane crashes near Lithuanian airport

A DHL cargo plane crashed on approach to an airport in Lithuania early Monday, killing a Spanish crew member and injuring three other people on board, officials said.

A surveillance video shows the Boeing 737 crashing while landing and disappearing behind a building. A moment later, a huge fireball exploded into the air. The footage does not show the moment of impact.

The DHL plane was operated by Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor, and was carrying four people when it crashed at 5:30 a.m. local time as the plane arrived from Leipzig, Germany, a major cargo hub, the Lithuanian airport authority told The Associated with pressing.

DHL told AP in a statement that the plane made an “emergency landing” about half a mile from Vilnius airport. The cause of the accident is unknown and an investigation is underway.

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Security footage shows the Boeing 737 descending as the plane begins to land. (Arvydas Paukstys via Storyful)

One crew member, a Spanish citizen, died in the crash and three others – who were Spanish, German and Lithuanian citizens – were injured, Reuters reported, citing local police.

The plane disappears behind a building and then a fireball shoots into the air. (Arvydas Paukstys via Storyful)

Emergency services told the outlet the plane broke apart upon impact and slid a few hundred meters into an area of ​​residential homes. Officials said debris hit at least one home, but no one on the ground was injured.

“Fortunately, despite the accident in a residential area, no people were killed on site,” Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė told reporters, according to the Associated Press.

Officials said the cause of the crash was unknown and an investigation was ongoing. (Arvydas Paukstys via Storyful)

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The Boeing 737 involved in the crash was 31 years old, Reuters reported, citing a Flightradar24 database.

The Associated Press analyzed flight tracking data from FlightRadar24 and found that the plane turned north of the airport to line up for landing before crashing just over a mile short of the runway.

While it remains unclear what caused the accident, the crash came at a time when Western security officials had previously told Reuters they suspected Russian intelligence of conducting test runs for acts of sabotage on cargo flights to the United States.

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According to Reuters, German officials are also investigating fires that occurred earlier this year in Leipzig, where incendiary devices were hidden in packages in a warehouse.