Four US  soldiers have reportedly been found dead in Lithuania after going missing during a training mission. A major search operation was launched after the tracked vehicle they were travelling in disappeared at around 4.45pm yesterday.

The Embassy in Vilnius has yet to confirm the deaths after releasing a statement to confirm only that four soldiers were missing. But speaking to reporters while visiting Warsaw, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said: "Whilst I was speaking the news came out about four American soldiers who were killed in an incident in Lithuania," as he confirmed he had no further details. The search, involving Lithuanian and US assets, has identified a “possible location” of where they are believed to have disappeared.

Helicopters from the Air Force and State Border Guard Service have been deployed to locate the missing soldiers.

The troops were on an exercise at the General Silvestras Žukauskas training ground in Pabradė, Lithuania at the time of their disappearance.