THREE OF FOUR United States soldiers missing in Lithuania since last week were found dead today, the US army said after rescuers recovered the soldiers’ armoured vehicle from a swamp.

Authorities received a report last Tuesday that the soldiers had disappeared during a military drill in the eastern city of Pabrade, near the border with Belarus.

The vehicle had initially been recovered without specifying whether the soldiers had been found. 

“Three US Army Soldiers assigned to 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division were found deceased in Lithuania today, March 31,” US Army Europe and Africa’s public affairs office said in a statement, adding that “search and recovery operations continue for the remaining fourth soldier.”

Search and rescue teams used heavy equipment and excavators to remove silt from the body of water where the vehicle was located and managed to attach cables to tow it out of the swamp.

“The area around the site is incredibly wet and marshy and doesn’t support the weight of the equipment,” US Army Europe and Africa’s public affairs office said in a statement on Friday.

Lithuanian Defence Minister Dovile Sakaliene said the towing operation was completed at 4:30am local time (01:30am GMT) and the Lithuanian military police and US investigators were “currently working at the scene”.

Hundreds of local and foreign troops and other rescue workers including engineers and divers had been involved in a rescue operation to recover the M88 Hercules armoured vehicle.

Lithuania, a NATO and EU member, hosts more than 1,000 American troops stationed on a rotational basis.