Army vehicle swept away in floodwaters near Fort Hood, killing 5
(FOX)- U.S. Army teams and other emergency rescue crews are in a desperate search Friday for four soldiers still missing from a truck that was swept from a low-water crossing and overturned in a swollen creek at Fort Hood, killing at least five and injuring three.
Fort Hood spokesman Chris Haug said late Thursday that teams found the bodies of two more soldiers who had been in the vehicle. Three other soldiers were found dead shortly after the 2 1/2-ton truck overturned in Owl Creek during a morning training exercise on the Central Texas army post.
Three soldiers were rescued and were hospitalized in stable condition.
It was the third tragic incident of the day for the US military, after a Blue Angels fighter pilot was killed in a crash in Tennessee and the pilot of an Air Force jet participating in a Colorado graduation ceremony’s flyover was slightly injured after he ejected before the craft crashed in a field.
The Texas soldiers involved are from the Army’s famed 1st Cavalry Division, which is based at Fort Hood.
Aerial and ground crews scoured the 20-mile creek that stretches through heavily wooded terrain on the northern fringe of the base. Army aircraft, canine search teams, swift-water rescue watercraft and heavy trucks were being used in the search.
The Army has yet to release any of the names of the deceased soldiers because it was still notifying relatives.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the soldiers their families and the Fort Hood community,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement late Thursday.