Work continued overnight at the Pabrade training ground in eastern Lithuania, where four US soldiers have been missing since Tuesday. Their vehicle was found submerged in a swamp and the rescue operation is ongoing, made more difficult by a nearby gas pipe, on Friday, the 28th of March, reports Lithuanian broadcaster LRT.
The M88 Hercules tracked rescue vehicle, which was carrying US soldiers and weighs several dozen tonnes, was found on Wednesday and is about five metres deep.
“It is not visible from the surface and it is difficult to feel it even with metal rods,” Lithuanian Armed Forces Commander Raimundas Vaikšnoras said on Thursday.
Overnight, crews pumped out some of the silt in an effort to reach the armoured vehicle, but as the water from a nearby lake continued to flow, Defence Minister Dovilė Šakalienė announced on Friday morning that a large dredger from the Inland Waterways Directorate (IWD) was being deployed.
ACCORDING TO ŠAKALIENE, TWO TO THREE METRES WERE PUMPED OUT OVERNIGHT, BUT THE muddy WATER STILL PREVENTS THE VEHICLE FROM BEING SEEN.
The Minister said a longer pipe is needed to pump out the accumulating water and the 300-metre pipe in the hands of the IWD “will allow the muddy water to be pumped further away from the accident site. … By the evening we should finally be able to break this last barrier of silt”.
Šakalienė said that once the vehicle is visible, “at the moment the plan is to attach ropes, use pulleys and bring it out with military equipment”. It is still unclear whether the missing soldiers are inside and all possible scenarios are being considered.
The rescue operation in LTU Pabrade training area is intensively continuing, and a site is being prepared for specialized equipment. pic.twitter.com/Qc4rQlvJI3
— Lithuanian_Armed_Forces (@LTU_Army) March 27, 2025
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda also visited the scene on Friday morning.
“I am still hoping for a miracle, although many sceptics would probably say that there is nothing to hope for in such circumstances,” the President told reporters at the Pabrade training ground.
Lithuanian officials say the search and rescue operation is technically very complex. It involves Lithuanian and US soldiers, various government agencies and private companies. Dozens of Polish soldiers with equipment have also arrived to help.
All authorities are “working hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder”, the President said. “Minutes like this, circumstances like this, perhaps only show how strong we are when we are together, when we are in the NATO alliance, when we feel the shoulder of our friends,” said Nausied said.
US Ambassador to Lithuania Kara McDonald, who arrived at the scene, told reporters that additional US military experts were on their way to the scene.
“A team of army engineers arrived last night. A team of US Navy divers will arrive this afternoon,” the Ambassador said.
Four American soldiers aboard the M88 Hercules went missing on Tuesday during a training exercise at the Pabrade training ground near the Belarusian border. It is assumed that the soldiers wandered into a swamp due to human reasons.