In “one of the few bright spots” in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Nepal that has claimed 5,500 lives, U.S. special forces have found and provided assistance to three Americans there, the Pentagon said Thursday.
Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren had no details on the location or condition of the Americans except to say that U.S. special forces escorted them to the U.S. embassy in Nepal and got them food.
Twenty-six Green Berets were already in Nepal when the earthquake struck on Saturday. Some of those forces were on a high-altitude training mission and were re-tasked to trek popular trails near Mount Everest to assist climbers trapped or injured by avalanches triggered by the earthquake.
About 100 highly trained U.S. search and rescue personnel and 12 of their search dogs are also on hand and assisted Thursday in the successful rescue of a Nepalese teen who survived for more than 120 hours under a collapsed building.
