US vehicle missing in Lithuania pulled from swamp but fate of soldiers unknown
Four American soldiers were on a training exercise in the town of Pabrade when the group and their vehicle were reported missing last week.
A US armoured vehicle that went missing in Lithuania has been retrieved from a swamp after a six-day search but there is still no information about the fate of the four American soldiers who were on board, Lithuanian officials said.
“The armoured vehicle was pulled ashore at 4.40 am, the towing operation is complete, Lithuanian military police and US investigators continue their work,” defence minister Dovile Sakaliene said on Monday morning in a post on Facebook.
The soldiers were on a training exercise at the General Silvestras Zukauskas training ground in the town of Pabrade when the group and their vehicle were reported missing in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the US army said.
“Until the investigators have more details, we need to stay calm and focused, and keep in mind the sensitivity of the situation and the concerns of the soldiers’ families,” Ms Sakaliene posted on Facebook.
She made clear to reporters that the first information about fate of the soldiers will be delivered by the US army.
The soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting tactical training when they went missing.
Hundreds of Lithuanian and US soldiers and rescuers took part in the search through the thick forests and swampy terrain around Pabrade, which lies just 10 kilometres (six miles) west of the border with Belarus.
The M88 Hercules armoured vehicle was discovered on Wednesday submerged in 4.5 meters (15 feet) of water.
A large-scale recovery operation got under way but “water, thick mud and soft ground around the site have complicated recovery efforts and have required specialised equipment to drain water from the side and stabilise the ground” in order to pull the 70-tonne vehicle ashore, the army said.
