Rescuers dig for missing US soldiers’ vehicle in Lithuania
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Military personnel at the site of a rescue operation for missing US soldiers in Lithuania, on March 27.
PHOTO: AFP
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VILNIUS - Rescuers in Lithuania were digging on March 27 into a peat bog in a military training area to recover the vehicle of four US soldiers missing for two days.
The soldiers in the M88 Hercules armoured recovery vehicle were on an exercise at the Pabrade training ground near the Belarus border, where US units have been rotating since 2019.
Their vehicle was located on March 26 at more than 5m down and enough water had now been drained from the swamp to begin digging for it, Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene told reporters on the morning of March 27 after surveying the site.
Hundreds of Lithuanian and US soldiers with dozens of vehicles were working at the site and surveying nearby woodland in hope of finding the soldiers.
"To us, their soldiers are like our soldiers," said army head Raimundas Vaiksnoras said.
Poland is sending dozens of troops and scuba divers and equipment to Lithuania to help with the search, Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz posted on X on March 27.
US ambassador Kara McDonald thanked Lithuania for the help, calling it a model ally.
"As our secretary of defence said, we will not rest until our troops are found", she added at the site, saying recovery of the vehicle was difficult.
Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister Kestutis Budrys told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington earlier this week that his country was ready to host more US troops.
US President Donald Trump, asked about the missing soldiers, told reporters at the White House on March 26 that he had not been briefed on the incident. REUTERS
The missing soldiers’ vehicle was located at more than 5m deep in a peat bog and water had to be drained before digging could start.
PHOTO: REUTERS
