AT least one person has been killed after a cargo plane crashed into a house and exploded into a fireball.
The Boeing 737 jet was approaching Vilnius Airport in Lithuania when it struck the two-storey building.
East2WestThe moment the plane crashed and exploded into a fireball[/caption]
East2WestA fire burns after the Boeing 737 crashed near an airport in the Lithuanian capital[/caption]
AFPThe wreckage o the cargo plane[/caption]
Dramatic footage shows a blast lighting up the early morning sky in the Lithuanian capital.
Shocking images show the fiery wreckage of the DHL cargo plane, which had flown in from Leipzig, Germany.
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, which happened just before 5.30am local time, has not been revealed.
Weather at the airport was around freezing temperature, with clouds before sunrise and winds around 18 mph.
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 flights.
It comes after another Boeing 737 erupted into flames after an emergency landing at Sao Paulo International Airport in Guarulhos, Brazil.
Footage showed firefighters climbing into the bright orange inferno inside the plane to put out the ferocious flames on November 9.
The aircraft, which belonged to the Total Cargo company, had to make an emergency landing after a fire started in its hold.
The Boeing 737-4Q8 (SF) aircraft had departed from Vitoria, southeastern Brazil, and was headed to the airport in Sao Paulo to deliver packages from the Brazilian Post Office.
AFPA rescuer walks past the wreckage of the cargo plane following the crash[/caption]
AFPPolice at the scene of the crash near Vilnius Airport[/caption]
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