This story was originally published June 2, 2016, at 6:44 p.m. EST.
Five soldiers were confirmed dead Thursday after their Light Medium Tactical Vehicle overturned at a low-water crossing on Fort Hood, Texas. The search continued into Friday morning for four more missing soldiers.
Three additional soldiers were rescued and are in stable condition.
Fort Hood emergency personnel responded to a call for a swift-water rescue at 11:20 a.m. on Thursday after the LMTV got stuck at the Owl Creek Tactical low-water crossing and East Range Road, according to information from Fort Hood.
Severe storms have pummeled Texas in recent days, with widespread flooding reported across the state. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster across 31 counties, and heavy rain was falling in some places at a rate of up to 3 inches an hour, according to The Weather Channel.
The soldiers involved were conducting convoy operations training at the time of the incident, said Lt. Col. Sunset Belinsky, a spokeswoman for the 1st Cavalry Division. The road the soldiers were training on isn't marked as a low-water crossing, which means it typically isn't prone to flooding, she said.
"But because of the unusual amount of rain we've received, water did come across the road," she said.
A Fort Hood official speaking on background said that at the time of the incident all roads prone to flooding were already closed on post. Around the time the emergency call came in, officials from the Fort Hood Department of Emergency Services were advising leaders to shut down additional roads, the official told Army Times.
The incident is "devastatingly tragic," the official said.
Emergency responders talk near the scene of an accident at Fort Hood at Owl Creek Park near Gatesville, Texas, on June 2. An Army troop truck was washed from a low-water crossing and overturned in a rain-swollen creek at Fort Hood.
Photo Credit: Michael Miller/The Temple Daily Telegram via AP
Fort Hood officials confirmed three soldiers died in the incident Thursday afternoon. Their bodies were recovered from the water downstream from the vehicle. Two additional soldiers were confirmed dead in the evening hours.
The soldiers in the vehicle were members of 3rd Battalion, 16th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division.
The three soldiers rescued from the water near the vehicle were in stable condition at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center on post.
"The 1st Cavalry Division is grieving after a training accident at Fort Hood during flash flooding this morning," Maj. Gen. John Thomson, the commanding general, said in a statement. "We are deeply saddened by the loss of several troopers and continue search operations. Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated during this difficult time as we care for the families, loved ones and fellow soldiers of those impacted by this tragedy."
Emergency responders from Fort Hood and local and state agencies — including aircraft, canine search teams, heavy-ground equipment, swift-water rescue aircraft and search personnel — are involved in the search and rescue mission.
A Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter flies over Lake Belton near the scene of an accident at Fort Hood at Owl Creek Park near Gatesville, Texas, on June 2.
Photo Credit: Michael Miller/The Temple Daily Telegram via AP
The names of the deceased soldiers have not been released pending notification of their families.
Michelle Tan is the editor of Army Times and Air Force Times. She has covered the military for Military Times since 2005, and has embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Haiti, Gabon and the Horn of Africa.
