Search and recovery efforts are underway for four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing during a scheduled training exercise near Pabradė, Lithuania, according to the Army and the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius.
The soldiers, who the Army said are all based in Fort Stewart, Georgia, were reported missing on Tuesday, the Lithuanian Armed Forces said.
The M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle the soldiers were operating at the time has been found submerged in water in a training area, the Army said on Wednesday.
“A very complicated search and rescue operation is underway,” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene said at a news conference Wednesday. “It will definitely take some time.”
Lithuania’s chief of defense, Raimundas Vaiksnoras, said the search area “is now narrowed.”
“It is very important for us to find those soldiers as soon as possible, because you all know how important is the presence of U.S. troops in Lithuania,” Vaiksnoras added. “Their soldiers are like our Lithuanian soldiers to us. So we spare no effort.”
“The 3rd Inf. Div. is continuing to keep families of the Soldiers informed on the status of search efforts,” the Army said in a statement.
