The operation of the Hercules armored car in the swamp, which 4 American soldiers moved, came to an end – she informed the defence minister of Lithuania Dovile Shakaliene on Monday. There's no evidence of any missing U.S. soldiers.
‘At 4.30 a.m., the vehicle withdrawal operation was completed. 2 M88 armoured transporters and 2 bulldozers were utilized to anchor," said Shakaliene in an interview with public radio LRT.
As she added, the M88 Hercules armored car weighs almost 70 tons, and the swamp in which it sank increased its weight respective times. On Sunday afternoon, divers managed to attach a steel line to a sunk vehicle.
According to the Ministry, the Lithuanian military police and American investigators are presently working at the scene. Information on missing soldiers is not being reported yet.
"Please be patient until they can give us more information about the situation" - she wrote on Facebook Monday morning Shakaliene. She added that the U.S. authorities would first disclose information about missing American soldiers.
They went missing on Tuesday.
Four U.S. soldiers were reported missing on Tuesday during training at a training ground in Podbrod, about 15-20 km from the Lithuanian-Belarus border. Lithuanian and abroad military, as well as helicopters of the Air Force and the State Border defender of Lithuania, were directed to search and rescue action. Rescuers from Poland besides joined the action.
The vehicle was about 4 metres below the water surface and under about a two-meter mud layer.
PAP
