The search for four U.S. Army soldiers who went missing while on a training exercise in Lithuania has been changed from a rescue mission to an operation to recover their bodies, according to officials.
Lithuania's Minister of Defense Dovile Sakaliene revealed the tragic news on Thursday, which was later confirmed in a press release from the American Army.
“Search and recovery efforts by U.S. and Lithuanian personnel have continued without pause,” the release stated.
The M88 Hercules armored vehicle the men were operating at the time of their disappearance was found submerged in mud and water in a training area on Wednesday.
The soldiers had been missing since the early hours of Tuesday while conducting a maintenance mission to recover another U.S. Army vehicle in the training area.
The initial search effort through the thick forests and swampy terrain involved ground-based search parties of hundreds of U.S and Lithuanian soldiers and law enforcement, Lithuanian military helicopters and diving teams.
"We are leveraging every available U.S. and Lithuanian asset to coordinate for and provide the required resources for this effort," said U.S. Army Major General Curtis Taylor.
"We are incredibly appreciative of the dedicated and professional efforts of our Lithuanian Allies in ensuring the safety of U.S. personnel,” he emphasized. “They have worked tirelessly alongside us over the last 48 hours and we continue to be grateful for their support.”
Water, thick mud and soft ground around the recovery site have complicated efforts, and have required specialized equipment to drain water from the vehicle and stabilize the ground, the Army said.
Engineers on site are developing a system of barriers of dirt and sand from the nearby terrain in order to create an area from which water can be pumped and mud dredged, providing emergency personnel on-site access to the vehicle.
"This tragic situation weighs heavily on all of us, and we’re keeping the families, friends and teammates of our soldiers and recovery team in our thoughts and prayers," Taylor added.
"We want everyone to know we will not stop until our soldiers are found."
The latest update comes following a NATO apology Wednesday after Secretary General Mark Rutte initially said the men were dead, and later corrected that searches were in fact still ongoing.
"This is still early news so we do not know the details ... our thoughts are with the families and loved ones,” Rutte said.
President Donald Trump sparked outrage online after he said he had not been briefed on the situation, hours after the men were first reported missing, and knew nothing about their situation.
The White House did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment on Wednesday night on whether the president had yet been briefed.
