Although both the Lithuanian and the US Armed Forces have not yet elaborated on the fate of the American service members and want to contact their relatives first, Prosecutor General Nida Grunskienė announced at around noon that a pre-trial investigation had been opened to determine the cause of death.
Earlier, vans from funeral service companies had arrived at the landfill. They moved towards the accident scene and left a couple of hours later, accompanied by the military.
At 13:00, Lieutenant Colonel Aušrius Buikus, the Commander of the rescue operation for the missing US service members at the Pabradė training ground, finally commented on the situation at the approach to the training ground.
„I can confirm that the vehicle has been recovered. The procedural actions are ongoing. The scope of the operation is somewhat on hold pending confirmation of its continuation or completion. The operation is now on hold pending the proceedings,“ Buikus stated.
What are the current actions?
„The armoured personnel carrier is being inspected. I cannot comment now on the specifics of the officers and soldiers involved in this, what exactly is being done there, as it is sensitive and somewhat avoided to comment openly because of the ethics and other subtleties involved,“ he said.
The commander of the US military rescue operation did not respond to a question on whether the bodies of American soldiers were found in the armoured vehicle.
„I would not like to comment on the bodies of the soldiers, as I said, because of the ethics and because of the way the operation was going, because I am not directly involved in it. I am related to the fact that the armoured vehicle had to be removed,“ Buikus explained.
The Lieutenant Colonel also did not answer whether all the armoured personnel carriers hatches pulled out of the swamp were closed.
„Yes“, said the operation commander when asked whether pre-trial investigations were underway to establish the cause of death.
The Lithuanian Armed Forces representative also briefly described the position of the armoured personnel carrier in the swamp.
„In my presence, we know the armoured personnel carrier was leaning. I can tell you that it was not standing straight but was leaning,“ Buikus said.
The operation to pull the vehicle out of the swamp involved Lithuanian and US troops and other officials.
„The extraction itself was prepared, and it went according to plan. As far as I know, it took a little less time than expected. The whole extraction process went smoothly enough,“ the operation commander noted.
How long will the armoured personnel carrier be kept at the Pabradė training ground?
„The armoured vehicle will be removed as soon as the procedural steps have been completed. A part of this operation will also involve the removal of the armoured personnel carrier itself. As the vehicle is heavy, loading and removal will require some capacity and planning,“ Buikus emphasised.
Two vehicles of the same type were used to pull the armoured personnel carrier out of the swamp, with the additional use of two bulldozers. The armoured personnel carrier weighs about 70 tonnes and was submerged in mud, which, according to Minister of National Defence Dovilė Šakalienė, increased its relative weight several times.
The investigation will look into what could have caused the accident.