Two Navy SEALs are missing after falling into rough, nighttime seas while raiding a small ship off the coast of Somalia, two U.S. defense officials told NBC News.
The SEALs were trying to climb into a type of small boat known as a dhow Thursday night when one of them fell in amid the rough seas, the defense officials said, speaking anonymously to give details of the incident.
A second sailor jumped in to rescue the first, as protocol dictates, and both disappeared into the darkness, the officials said.
Now in the fourth day since the sailors went overboard, search and rescue efforts by sea and air continue over the waters, which are warm.
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The two sailors, attached to a Naval Special Warfare Command unit, were searching sailboats in the Gulf of Aden looking for illegal goods such as weapons or drugs. They were attached to the Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it will not release further information, including identities, on the missing personnel at this time "out of respect for the families affected."
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