The Lithuanian army says they are searching for four US soldiers missing two days during the exercises in the Baltic State in the midst of a report that they died.
Four soldiers and their followed vehicle disappeared on Tuesday afternoon near the border with Belarus, the army said earlier. The US army said the vehicle was found sunk into the water.
The Lithuanian army said on X that “a rescue operation was intensely in progress” and there was no evidence “confirming the death of the trunk.”
NATO’s head Mark Rutte said he had been informed about their death, but added that there was no further detail.
Lithuanian and foreign troops, helicopters and state border guards are arranged in search of missing soldiers.
The soldiers trained near Pabrade in Eastern Lithuania.
The Public and Africa Public Relations Office confirmed in a statement that soldiers “conducted scheduled tactical training at the time of the incident.”
They added that the soldiers were part of the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division.
The Lithuanian authorities received a report on the disappearance of soldiers on Tuesday afternoon.
“The possible scene has now been identified,” the Lithuanian army said in a statement earlier on Wednesday.
“People work for an hour. They all stay on standby, willing to provide emergency medical support,” said the Lithuanian Minister of Defense, brought Sakaliene to X.
Lithuania, a NATO EU member, hosted more than 1,000 American troops, which were stationed on a rotary basis.
“I would like to thank the Lithuanian Armed Forces and the first answers that quickly came to our aid in our search operations,” said Lieutenant General Charles Costanza, General Corps Corps.
