A DHL cargo plane has crashed into a house near the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, killing at least one person.

Quoting an emergency official, Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT said two people were taken to hospital after the crash and one was later pronounced dead. LRT said the aircraft smashed into a two-storey home near Vilnius International Airport.

The Lithuanian airport authority identified the aircraft as a DHL cargo plane arriving from Leipzig, Germany. It posted on the social media platform X that city services, including a fire truck, were on site.

Flight-tracking data from FlightRadar24 showed the aircraft turned north of the airport, lining up for landing, before crashing a little more than one mile short of the runway.

Authorities did not immediately reveal a cause for the crash, which happened just before 5.30am local time. The weather at the airport was close to freezing, with clouds before sunrise and winds at about 30kph (18mph).

“Residential infrastructure around the house was on fire, and the house was slightly damaged, but we managed to evacuate people,” said Renatas Požėla, Fire and Rescue Department chief.

DHL Group has its headquarters in Bonn, Germany. Swiftair, a Madrid-based contractor, operated the DHL aircraft.

The Boeing 737 was 31 years old. While experts consider that an older plane, it is not unusual for cargo flights.