A heavy vehicle that was carrying four U.S. Army soldiers has been found submerged in a swamp in Lithuania, a day after the soldiers disappeared while on a training mission, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.
The vehicle was discovered after a search by the U.S. Army, the Lithuanian military and other Lithuanian authorities, the U.S. military said in a statement. The soldiers have not been found.
“Recovery efforts are underway by U.S. Army and Lithuanian Armed Forces and civilian agencies,” the U.S. military said in the statement. “Search efforts for the soldiers continue.”
The soldiers, from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, had been conducting scheduled tactical training near Pabrade, a city in eastern Lithuania, near the border with Belarus, the U.S. military said.
They were in an M88 Hercules, essentially a giant Army tow truck that is designed to rescue disabled tanks from the battlefield, the military said.
They had been sent out to bring back another heavy vehicle but may have driven off the road and into a swamp, according to a U.S. Army official in Europe. The soldiers appeared to have been trapped inside as the M88 sank, the official said.
The 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart in Georgia, was keeping the families of the soldiers informed on the status of the search, the U.S. military said.
The Lithuanian military said that the soldiers and their vehicle were reported missing on Tuesday at about 4:45 p.m. It said that Air Force helicopters and other resources had been used to search a “potential accident site” in the Pabrade training area.
“I would like to personally thank the Lithuanian Armed Forces and first responders who quickly came to our aid in our search operations,” Lt. Gen. Charles Costanza, commanding general of the V Corps, a U.S. Army unit that operates along NATO’s eastern flank, said in a statement on Wednesday. “It’s this kind of teamwork and support that exemplifies the importance of our partnership and our humanity regardless of what flags we wear on our shoulders.”
The U.S. military often conducts training missions in Lithuania, a NATO member and staunch ally of Ukraine in its war against Russia. Many of those exercises are held at the Pabrade training area, and involve soldiers from Lithuania and other NATO allies. Nearby Belarus is a close ally of Russia.
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