Efforts to find four U.S. soldiers who went missing during a training exercise in Lithuania are ongoing, after their vehicle was found submerged in a training area near the Belarusian border.
Rescue teams are now working to recover the M88 Hercules that was carrying the troops from a deep body of water. However, it remains unknown if the soldiers are inside.
On Thursday, the Lithuanian Defense Minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, said that work to retrieve the armored vehicle was moving forward: “There are certain positive signs that give hope for a quicker scenario, thanks to certain technical recovery possibilities.”
However, the speed of the rescue operation has been hampered by the challenging terrain. American and Lithuanian rescue units have had to drain marshland to build a road to allow heavy recovery vehicles to access the scene.
The situation has also been further complicated by the presence of a high-pressure gas pipe running through the area, state broadcaster LRT reported.
“It was full of gas and we needed gas engineers, specialists first of all, to assess it, to turn off the gas flow, to relieve the pressure so that our heavy equipment could start the work,” said Raimundas Vaikšnoras, the commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
On Thursday, the Lithuanian Defense Minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, said that work to retrieve the armored vehicle was moving forward: “There are certain positive signs that give hope for a quicker scenario, thanks to certain technical recovery possibilities.”
However, the speed of the rescue operation has been hampered by the challenging terrain. American and Lithuanian rescue units have had to drain marshland to build a road to allow heavy recovery vehicles to access the scene.
The situation has also been further complicated by the presence of a high-pressure gas pipe running through the area, state broadcaster LRT reported.
“It was full of gas and we needed gas engineers, specialists first of all, to assess it, to turn off the gas flow, to relieve the pressure so that our heavy equipment could start the work,” said Raimundas Vaikšnoras, the commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
‘We spare no effort’
Vaikšnoras said that all possible resources were being used to find the soldiers: “You all know how important the presence of U.S. troops in Lithuania is. Their soldiers are like our soldiers to us. So we spare no effort to find them,” he said.
The M88 is believed to have sunk in about five meters of water. “It is not visible from the surface and it is difficult to feel it even with metal rods,” said Vaikšnoras.
“[But] there’s no guarantee the soldiers are in [the vehicle]. Other scenarios are also being considered,” he added.
Earlier, NATO had to correct a statement by the alliance’s Secretary General Mark Rutte that said that the soldiers had died.
On X, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said that Rutte had been responding to false news reports rather than speaking from fact: “He was referring to emerging news reports and was not confirming the fate of the missing, which is still unknown,” she wrote.
The Lithuanian army also confirmed that there was no evidence to confirm that the troops had died.
The missing soldiers are all from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and had been taking part in tactical training.
The M88 is believed to have sunk in about five meters of water. “It is not visible from the surface and it is difficult to feel it even with metal rods,” said Vaikšnoras.
“[But] there’s no guarantee the soldiers are in [the vehicle]. Other scenarios are also being considered,” he added.
Earlier, NATO had to correct a statement by the alliance’s Secretary General Mark Rutte that said that the soldiers had died.
On X, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said that Rutte had been responding to false news reports rather than speaking from fact: “He was referring to emerging news reports and was not confirming the fate of the missing, which is still unknown,” she wrote.
The Lithuanian army also confirmed that there was no evidence to confirm that the troops had died.
The missing soldiers are all from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and had been taking part in tactical training.
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