The U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command confirmed that the soldiers’ remains were found alongside their armored vehicle stuck in a peat bog at a training site near the Belarusian border, roughly 10 kilometers away.
Due to the challenging conditions in the muddy forest area, both US and Lithuanian armed forces had to utilize heavy construction equipment to navigate through the terrain.
Lieutenant Junior Grade Eric Costello, from the US Navy Underwater Construction team, stated, “When we arrived at the site, the conditions were quite unforgiving. We’ve never experienced such heavy mud or low visibility while diving in a peat bog. It’s been a unique challenge for our team to navigate in such conditions.”
One US soldier remains missing, and search and recovery efforts involving hundreds of Lithuanian and US soldiers are ongoing in the area.
Both the US Army and Lithuanian authorities are conducting inquiries to determine the cause of the incident.
