Fiuggi, Italy, 25 November 2024 (dpa/MIA) - German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for full clarification following Monday's crash of a DHL cargo plane travelling from Germany to Lithuania.

Authorities in both countries are currently investigating "in all directions," Baerbock said on the fringes of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in the Italian town of Fiuggi, 60 kilometres east of Rome.

In addition to a technical failure, Baerbock did not rule out the possibility of a deliberately caused crash.

The minister emphasized that authorities in both countries were currently examining all possibilities in their investigations.

"This underlines the times we are living in," Baerbock said, referring to several recent "hybrid attacks" on individuals or infrastructure in Europe.

Protecting critical infrastructure is therefore particularly important now, she stressed.

Baerbock did not make any direct accusations against individuals or states following the crash.

However, with regard to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, she added: "The Russian president will not do us the favour of taking into account that Christmas is just around the corner or even the German parliamentary elections." 

Baerbock is taking part in a meeting of the Group of Seven foreign ministers in Italy.

The cargo plane that took off from Leipzig was an aircraft belonging to the Spanish airline Swift Air, which was travelling on behalf of DHL.

The aircraft crashed in the early morning as it came to land at the airport in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, close to a residential building. One Spanish crew member was killed.