DHL plane crash sparks fears of deadly Russian TERROR op as secret service investigates and vids emerge of jet fireball
A PLANE crash that killed one has sparked fears of Russian sabotage.
Authorities in Lithuania have refused to rule out terrorism after a DHL cargo jet struck a building while approaching Vilnius Airport.
The crash has reignited fears of a Russian covert sabotage operation after a series of mysterious explosions at DHL warehouses across Europe - including in Birmingham.
Security officials feared the parcel blasts were part of a test run for a Russian plot to trigger explosions on cargo flights to the United States.
Today, the DHL cargo plane from Leipzig crashed into a house just a mile before it was supposed to touch down on the runway at Vilnius Airport.
Dramatic footage shows the Boeing 737 burst into flames after striking the two-storey building at around 5.30am local time (3.30am GMT).
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The stricken aircraft skidded for a few hundred metres before smashing into the property.
Shocking images show the fiery wreckage of the DHL cargo plane as emergency crews rushed to put out the blaze.
Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24 showed the aircraft made a turn to the north of the airport, lining up for landing, before crashing around 1.5km short of the runway in Žirnių Street.
Nearby residents were evacuated by emergency crews.
The cause of the smash has not been revealed.
Weather at the airport was around freezing temperature, with clouds before sunrise and winds around 18mph.
One person has been confirmed dead, while three other crew members were rushed to hospital.
The DHL aircraft was operated by Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor.
The Boeing 737 was 31 years old, which is considered by experts to be an older airframe, though that's not unusual for cargo jets.
Lithuania's National Crisis Management Centre has deployed experts to investigate.
Head of the centre Vilmantas Vitkauskas told LRT: "According to the initial version, the incident may be related to technical problems.
"However, it is too early to talk about anything more precise."
Police in Lithuania have refused to rule out terrorism, however.
Lithuanian Police Commissioner General Arunas Paulauskas said: "This is one of the versions that must be studied and checked."
Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas declared an emergency situation following the crash.
He said: "We will urgently declare an emergency situation in the area to ensure the rapid liquidation of the consequences of the accident – cleaning up the territory, collecting harmful materials."
But Lithuania's Minister of National Defense Laurynas Kasčiūnas said he does not believe the incident was sabotage.
He said: "So far, there are no signs or facts that this is a sabotage or a terrorist act, if we are talking about external influence on the plane."
DHL-linked explosions across Europe
SECURITY officials fear Russia could be behind parcel explosions at depots in Europe as part of a plot to trigger explosions on cargo flights to the US.
Western governments believe Moscow could be behind a series of fires and acts of sabotage in Europe aimed at destabilising allies of Ukraine.
On July 22, a suspect package caught fire at a DHL depot in Minworth, Birmingham.
Also in July, fires broke out in a container due to be loaded onto a DHL cargo plane in the German city of Leipzig.
Meanwhile, a fire at a transport hub near Jablonow, near Warsaw, Poland took almost two hours to put out.
Polish police arrested four people - and claimed the suspected Russian arson attacks could have been a test run for future attacks on the US.
It is feared the fears were part of an orchestrated campaign organised by Russia's military intelligence agency, the GRU.
Moscow, which denies being behind acts of sabotage is suspected to have been behind other attacks on warehouses and railway networks in EU member states this year - including in Sweden and in the Czech Republic.
Western nations including the UK, Britain, and the US, have repeatedly accused Russia of trying to sabotage nations providing military and financial aid to Ukraine.
Western officials had raised the alarm over a potential Russian sabotage plot.
Governments and intelligence agencies in Europe have pointed to Moscow as being the source of a series of fires and acts of sabotage aimed at destabilising allies of Ukraine.
Sabre-rattling Vladimir Putin - who has threatened to bomb the West - was suspected of planting a parcel bomb inside a package on a flight heading to the UK.
The US ramped up checks on parcels from Europe after a suspect package caught fire in a DHL depot in England in July.
The order was based on secret intelligence that pointed to deadly sabotage plans.
Flagship carrier United Airlines banned all mail weighing over 16oz following the “classified” order from the US government.
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The Wall Street Journal claimed explosives were concealed in "electric massagers implanted with a magnesium-based flammable substance" and "part of a wider Russian plot".
Four suspected saboteurs were arrested in Poland over the incident.