Vilnius, Lithuania (AP) – A US armored car that went missing in Lithuania has been taken back from a six-day search, but there is still no information about the fate of the four US soldiers on board the ship said Monday.
“The armored vehicle was dragged at 4:40 am, the drag’s operation has been completed, the Lithuanian military police and US investigators are continuing their work,” the Secretary of Defense said in a Facebook post.
The US military said the soldiers were in a training exercise in the town of Pabradi, when they went missing in early Tuesday morning.
“As long as researchers have more details, we must remain calm and focus, and take into account the sensitivity of the situation and the concerns of the soldiers’ families,” Shakalien said on Facebook.
He clearly explained to reporters that the first information about the fate of the troops was provided by the US military.
The soldiers, all from the first brigade, were the third infantry division, when they went missing, were conducting tactical training.
Hundreds of Lithuanian and American soldiers and rescuers participated in the search in thick forests and stools around Pabrai, which is only 10 kilometers west of the border with Belarus. The M88 Hercules armored vehicles were found on Wednesdays that were sank in 4.5 meters (15 feet) of water.
The US military said a major recovery operation had begun, but “water, thick mud and a soft land around the place are trying to recover and needed special equipment to get water on the one hand and deploy the ground” to pull the 70 tons to the shore.