Sunken tank in Lithuania recovered-three US soldiers dead

After an accident in Lithuania, the recovery of a 70-ton armored vehicle from the US Army could be reported. Four US soldiers were at one Military exercise near the Belarusian border Sunk with her M88 Hercules in a meter -deep mud.

The military vehicle could be lifted from a swampy water on the military training area in Pabrade on Monday with the help of mountains and other heavy equipment. Previously, rescue workers had localized the M88 and attached a tow rope. The US military has now confirmed the death of three out of four missing US soldiers in Lithuania.

Lithuania’s Minister of Defense speaks of « painful loss »

The fate of the fourth soldier initially remained unclear. The search for the military training area in Pabrade on the NATO-East flank near the border with Belarus, said the European command center of the US Army in Wiesbaden. The daily newspaper Lietuvos Rytas Also reports that funeral services have already arrived at the scene of the accident to transport the dead soldiers. The US Army and the Lithuanian authorities have also initiated investigations into the cause of the accident.

Lithuania’s Minister of Defense Dovile Sakaliene spoke of a « painful loss » and a « very sad day for all of Lithuania ». « We can assure you that we will not rest until we have found the last missing soldier, » she also wrote on the platform X. President Gitanas Nauseda and Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys expressed their sympathy and expressed their condolences to the soldiers.

M88 Hercules with soldiers from the US Army in Lithuania

The contact with the US Army’s tank vehicle already stopped on Tuesday afternoon. It was only later that it became clear that it had sunk in the swampy area of ​​a tank exercise area. Hundreds of emergency services, including Polish and Lithuanian rescue workers, have been working on the rescue since then under extreme conditions.

In complete darkness, divers had to penetrate the mud several meters deep to reach the vehicle. It was only after five hours of hard work that they managed to attach a tow rope. According to the information, the tank vehicle was about four meters below the surface.

The cause of why the tank sank into the mud with the four US soldiers on board is still unclear. We are sometimes talking about a possible defect in the navigation system.

Sunk with the tank: worship for missing US soldiers in Lithuania

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had incorrectly confirmed the death of the four US soldiers days earlier. But officially the fatal outcome of the accident is not yet considered secure. However, the chances of survival are now negligible.

In the cathedral of the Lithuanian capital Vilnius A mass was held on Sunday for the missing soldiers of the US Army and their families. In a letter, the European headquarters of the US armed forces in Wiesbaden expresses its gratitude to the involved emergency services of the NATO alliesthat help with the salvage. They would treat the missing soldiers « like their own », according to an official letter. (with dpa)