Lithuanian President visits crash site

Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda has visited the site of the cargo plane that crashed in Vilnius on behalf of the postal service provider DHL. Together with the German ambassador Cornelius Zimmermann and his Spanish colleague María Nieves Blanco Díaz, the head of state of the Baltic EU country visited the crash site near Vilnius airport and also spoke to local residents. He was accompanied by police chief Arunas Paulauskas, as pictures published by the Lithuanian presidential chancellery show. The mayor of Vilnius, Valdas Benkunskas, had previously visited the accident site.

The plane crashed early in the morning near the airport in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, close to a residential building. One person - a Spanish citizen - was killed, according to police and rescue services. The authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident. So far, there are no indications that it was a case of sabotage or a terrorist attack. The cargo plane that took off from Leipzig was operated by the Spanish airline Swift Air, according to DHL. Swift Air works for DHL.

"The investigation is still ongoing and is being carried out by experts in their field. I have no doubt that everything will be clarified and clarified in detail," Nauseda had stated before his visit to the accident site. The Lithuanian head of state emphasized the need to be prepared for all possible situations: "We do not know what the conclusions of the investigation will be, but it is clear that we will never panic and make decisions that are not based on facts."