Search Intensifies for 4 Missing Soldiers After Army Truck Overturns in Creek
Five soldiers were found dead in Owl Creek near Fort Hood in Texas.
— -- The search continued today for four missing Fort Hood soldiers after their truck overturned in a creek near the military post in Killeen, Texas. Five soldiers died in the incident and three were hospitalized.
The accident occurred Thursday morning during a week of heavy rains and flooding across Texas. The soldiers, part of the 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team and 1st Cavalry Division, were conducting a morning training exercise, according to The Associated Press.
Initially, three of the soldiers' bodies were found in Owl Creek, downstream from their 2 1/2-ton Light Medium Tactical Vehicle, according to the Fort Hood Public Affairs Office. Several hours later, Fort Hood announced that the remains of two additional soldiers had been recovered.
Speaking at a news conference this morning from Fort Hood, Maj. Gen. John Uberti, deputy commanding general of U.S. Army III Armored Corps, said the three injured soldiers who were rescued from the waters are in stable condition. He said they may be released from Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center later today.
The search is now focused on finding the four missing soldiers.
Multiple local and state agencies are assisting Fort Hood with the rescue and recovery of the missing soldiers via aircraft, canines and swift-water rescue personnel.
"This is a profound tragedy," Gen. Robert B. Abrams, the commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command, said in a statement today. "On behalf of the entire Army Forces Command Family, I extend our deepest condolences to the Families of those who lost a loved one Thursday, to those missing and injured, and to their Families.”
Abrams also said an investigation would be conducted by the Army to "better understand the circumstances and how to avoid this as we go forward."
The accident did not happen on Fort Hood proper, but on a part of the base reachable by public roads.
Fort Hood has not released the names of the soldiers.