The M88 Hercules tracked armoured recovery vehicle (ARV) used by four missing US servicemen was pulled out of a swamp in Lithuania on Monday, the head of the country’s Defence Ministry, Dovile Šakalienė, told LRT (Lithuanian National Radio and Television).
According to Šakalienė, the operation was completed late at night, the ARV was pulled out with the help of two similar vehicles and a bulldozer. Investigators from the US and Lithuanian military police are now working on the site, the minister said.
She specified that the fate of the missing crew, according to the agreement, will be first reported by the US.
The Minister also said that while trying to extract the wrecked vehicle, a walking suction dredger got stuck in the mire.
The dredger was brought to the search site with great effort. The machine was expected to be able to erode the sticky mud. However, the dredger’s hydraulic hose burst. While it was being repaired, the machinery became bogged down in the swamp.
The public became aware of the disappearance of American servicemen in Lithuania last Wednesday. Later, the US Army Command in Europe announced the discovery of the ARV in a pond on the territory of one of the firing ranges. The Baltic online news network Delfi reported that the missing servicemen had been found dead, but there was no official information about it.
