The plane, a Boeing 737, was operated by delivery firm DHL and crashed while en route from Leipzig, Germany, at around 5.30 a.m. Monday.

Saulius Raševskis, a representative of Lithuania's Fire and Rescue Department said: "Two people were taken to the hospital by medics, one of whom was pronounced dead. These individuals were on board the plane, according to initial data."

The crash occurred in the Liepkalnis district of the city, and also caused a fire to break out in a nearby two-story private home. However, authorities confirmed that there are no reports of casualties at this site or elsewhere on the ground, at the time of writing.

The cause of the accident and the nature of the cargo remain unclear.
Mindaugas Pivoriūnas, CEO of DHL Lietuva, stated that the aircraft belonged to one of the company's contractors and emphasized that investigations are ongoing.

Human error has been referred to as the most likely cause.

Earlier this year, DHL shipments from Lithuania led to fires in a logistics center in Leipzig, Germany, though it is not yet known if there is any connection to the current incident.

Lawyer: Cause may have been GPS interference

Speaking to ETV morning show "Terevisioon," Estonian-speaking and Lithuania-based lawyer Robert Juodka stated that three or four people are likely to have died in the accident, adding that in his opinion, the accident may have been caused by interference with global positioning system (GPS) signals.

He put the figure of fatalities at one or two from the flight crew along with the same number from the residential building which was struck, though the exact numbers are not yet known. However, at least one of the crew survived and is reportedly conscious, Juodka added.

Juodka said the plane crashed about one to one and a half kilometers from Vilnius Airport, in a forested and hilly area near to industrial facilities and residential homes.

He said: "In my opinion, the cause of this accident seems to resemble GPS coordinate interference, because if the plane had been damaged, it could have crashed earlier, and not so close to the airport."

Juodka said that although GPS signal interference is not often talked about officially, it has been a topic in the public domain. "My personal sense is that it strongly resembles that," he said.

According to Juodka, the weather at the time of the crash in Vilnius was foggy and overcast, as is common for this time of year. "There was no storm or snowfall. It was raining, but there was nothing unusual," he said.

Editor's note: This piece was updated to include comment by a local resident given to "Terevisioon."

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