Missing US soldier jumped into ocean to save colleague off Morocco’s coast, officials say

WASHINGTON, DC: One of the two US soldiers missing off Morocco’s southern coast entered the ocean in an attempt to rescue a fellow service member who had fallen into the water, according to defense officials who spoke to CBS News.

The incident occurred over the weekend near the Cap Draa Training Area during the multinational African Lion exercise. Authorities said search-and-rescue operations are ongoing as teams continue efforts to locate the two missing soldiers in the Atlantic Ocean.

Soldier rescue attempt after Morocco cliff fall

According to a preliminary account, a group of service members had gone on a hike near coastal cliffs to watch the sunset when one soldier fell into the water.

Officials said the individual was known to be unable to swim. 

The soldiers were last seen in the vicinity of ocean cliffs near the Cap Draa Training Area, a defense official told CBS News earlier.

The first soldier entered the water, and nearby service members tried unsuccessfully to rescue him by forming a human chain using their belts, officials said.

Another soldier then jumped in to save the service member, who was known not to be able to swim, but the would-be rescuer was immediately hit by a wave, the report says.

Both soldiers struggled to return to shore, prompting a third soldier to jump in. The third soldier was unable to rescue the others but managed to return safely, officials said.

The sequence of events has been described as a rapid escalation from an accident to a rescue attempt under challenging coastal conditions.

Morocco search intensifies with air, sea support

Search efforts have been underway for several days, involving aircraft, drones, naval vessels, and dive teams scanning the coastline and nearby waters.

The African Lion exercise is the largest annual joint military exercise led by AFRICOM, one of the 11 unified combatant commands of the US Department of Defense.

It brings together thousands of troops from the United States, African partner nations, and NATO allies to train for modern warfare across land, air, sea, cyber, and space domains.

The soldiers were stationed at a base with more than 7,000 service members from over 30 countries participating in the annual exercise.

A CBS News crew embedded with the US military spoke with one of the technology developers hours before the two soldiers disappeared.

Officials said the incident does not appear to be related to the exercise itself, as the soldiers were not engaged in formal training at the time.

"I choose to look around and measure the work we do today as a metric for the number of lives we'll save in the future," 1st Lt Vincent Gasparri said.