AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The U.S. Army is conducting an intensive search on Friday for four soldiers who went missing when a truck they were riding in overturned in a swollen creek at Fort Hood in central Texas a day earlier, killing five others in the vehicle.
Three more soldiers in the vehicle carrying 12 from the 1st Cavalry Division were rescued and are expected to be released from the hospital as early as Friday, a senior military officer told a news conference at the post.
"Yesterday we suffered a tragic accident where we lost five of our soldiers," Major General John Uberti told reporters.
The vehicle was on a convoy training exercise and the three people rescued were pulled to safety by soldiers in a nearby vehicle.
"Our priority has been since the first report of this incident, and continues to be, the search for our four missing teammates," he said of the search that includes helicopters and personnel on the ground.
The names of those killed have not yet been released.
The deaths are the latest in the state in the past week from flooding that has killed six other people, damaged hundreds of homes and sent thousands to seek safety in shelters.
The National Weather Service has placed large parts of the state on a flash flood watch on Friday, including Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)