Lithuania’s military reported that four US soldiers and a tracked vehicle were missing on Tuesday afternoon.
The United States Army stated that a vehicle used by four soldiers who went missing in Lithuania has been found submerged in water as search efforts for the missing troops continue.
In a statement on Wednesday, the army mentioned that “The M88 Hercules armoured recovery vehicle the four missing US Soldiers were operating during a training exercise has been located in Lithuania”.
The army’s remarks came after NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated during a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, that the four soldiers had died in an “incident”.
“This is still early news, so we do not know the details. This is really terrible news and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones,” Rutte said.
Earlier, Lithuania’s military had announced that a search was being carried out for the four US soldiers and a tracked vehicle that had gone missing on Tuesday afternoon.
The military later stated that it was continuing an “intensive” rescue operation without confirming the deaths of the US personnel.
According to a statement by the US Army, the soldiers had been training near Pabrade in eastern Lithuania close to the border with Belarus.
“The soldiers, all from 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, were conducting scheduled tactical training at the time of the incident,” the statement read.
