The US Army Europe and Africa have issued a new statement as four US soldiers remain missing following the discovery of their vehicle.
It confirmed that efforts continue by US and Lithuanian personnel on March 27 in the search and recovery for four missing US Soldiers near Pabradė, Lithuania.
US Army Maj Gen and commanding general of the First Armoured Division, Curtis Taylor, said: “We are leveraging every available US and Lithuanian asset to coordinate for and provide the required resources for this effort.
“We are incredibly appreciative of the dedicated and professional efforts of our Lithuanian Allies in ensuring the safety of US personnel. They have worked tirelessly alongside us over the last 48 hours and we continue to be grateful for their support.”
He added: “This tragic situation weighs heavily on all of us and we’re keeping the families, friends and teammates of our soldiers and recovery team in our thoughts and prayers. We want everyone to know, we will not stop until our Soldiers are found.”
A major search operation was launched after the tracked M88 Hercules vehicle the soldiers were travelling in disappeared at around 4.45pm, 25 March.
The soldiers, assigned to First Brigade Third Infantry Division, were conducting a maintenance mission to recover another US Army vehicle in the training area during scheduled unit training.
The soldiers’ vehicle was discovered on the morning of March 26 submerged in a body of water in a training area after continuous search efforts by the US and Lithuanian Army, law enforcement, Lithuanian military helicopters and diving teams.
The US army confirmed: “The soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting scheduled tactical training at the time of the incident.
“The M88 Hercules armoured recovery vehicle the four missing U.S. Soldiers were operating during a training exercise, has been located in Lithuania.”
Challenging terrain around the site has complicated recovery efforts and personnel have had to use specialized equipment to drain water from the side and stabilize the ground.
Maj Robin Bruce, First Armored Division Engineer, said: “Due to the terrain, this is an incredibly complex engineering effort. The team on the ground is working to remove enough water and mud for rescue teams to safely reach, stabilize, and access the vehicle.
“Lithuanian and U.S. Army engineers are currently pumping water, excavating mud from the site, and making improvements to the surrounding area to support the heavy equipment needed for recovery. The team is exploring every available option to speed up this process.”
Engineers on site are working to create berms, which are barriers built of dirt and sand from the nearby terrain to create a contained area from which water can be pumped and mud dredged, to giving emergency personnel access to the vehicle.
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