DHL director: only coincidence averted tragedy after fire-risk parcels sent from Lithuania
In July 2024, four parcels sent from Lithuania to the UK and Poland caught fire at Leipzig airport and at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham. A DHL executive told a Vilnius court Monday that a flight delay was the only reason a mid-air disaster was avoided.
In July 2024, four postal parcels were dispatched from Lithuania to the United Kingdom and Poland. The shipments reached a sorting centre in Germany, where they were being prepared for the next stage of transit. On Monday, Philip Bauer, senior director of operations support for the European Security Network at German logistics company DHL, gave testimony in a Vilnius court.
According to Bauer, one parcel ignited at Leipzig airport just before it was to be loaded onto an aircraft. Another parcel burst into flames at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, UK. The director stated that only a coincidence had prevented a tragedy: the delay of a flight meant the flammable parcels never made it into the air, avoiding a potential disaster.
Bauer emphasized that the outcome could have been far more serious. His testimony was delivered as part of court proceedings in Lithuania’s capital concerning the shipments. The case is connected to how these parcels were handled after leaving Lithuania and before they reached their intended destinations in Europe.
