Crashed DHL cargo plane's black boxes found in Vilnius

VILNIUS - The black boxes from the DHL cargo plane that crashed in Vilnius on Monday have been found, the Justice Ministry said on Tuesday.

They were found at around 11.30 a.m. and removed from the plane's wreckage.

A Spanish national, 48, was killed and the other three crew members, a Spaniard, a German and a Lithuanian, were injured when the DHL cargo plane crashed near Vilnius Airport on Monday morning. One of the injured men is in a serious condition.

The plane also clipped a residential property with 13 people inside but they were unharmed.

The Justice Ministry's Transport Accident and Incident Investigation Division launched a safety investigation after the incident, aimed to prevent such accidents in the future. According to the ministry, the sole purpose of this safety investigation, which is independent from judicial or administrative processes, is to prevent accidents and incidents in the future, not to determine who is at fault or responsible.

The inspection of the crashed DHL cargo plane in Vilnius will be completed within three days, after which the aircraft is to be removed from the site.

At least 19 witnesses have so far been interviewed in connection with the accident.

It is not yet clear what caused the crash, but an act of sabotage or terrorism cannot be ruled out.

Police have already spoken to the surviving crew members and they said there was no fire on board the aircraft before it hit the ground, officers say.

The aircraft belongs to Spanish airline Swift Air and was being used for DHL parcel delivery. It was flying from Leipzig, Germany.