A Ford Focus was wrecked in an accident near Vilseck, Germany, on June 30, 2023. One U.S. soldier died and two others were injured after the car slid off a wet roadway and collided with a tree. (Vilseck Fire Department)

VILSECK, Germany — A 20-year-old U.S. soldier was killed and two others were seriously injured when their car crashed into a tree near Vilseck on Friday.

The three soldiers were traveling toward Vilseck on Bavarian State Road 2120 around 7:50 p.m., when the 22-year-old driver lost control of his silver Ford Focus, possibly due to aquaplaning on the wet roadway, police told Stars and Stripes.

The vehicle skidded off the road, slammed sideways into a tree and came to rest in a roadside ditch.

The driver and a 20-year-old front seat passenger managed to free themselves, but the 20-year-old soldier in the back seat was trapped inside the vehicle. Vilseck firefighters removed the soldier from the wreckage and provided first aid.

Despite immediate medical assistance, the soldier who was in the back seat died at the scene of the accident, Alexander Lerach, spokesperson for the Oberpfalz Police Department, told Stars and Stripes on Sunday.

The other two soldiers were taken to a hospital with serious injuries that were not life-threatening, according to authorities.

Approximately 40 members of the Vilseck and Schlicht volunteer fire departments, two emergency physicians, an ambulance service and the Vilseck military police were present at the scene. The road was closed for several hours.

Emergency vehicles responded and a road was closed for several hours after an accident that killed a U.S. soldier and injured two others near Vilseck, Germany, on June 30, 2023. (Vilseck Fire Department)

An investigation into the exact cause of death and the sequence of events is ongoing, Oberpfalz police said.

The U.S. military has not released the name of the soldier who died, pending notification of their next of kin.

Friday’s death is the second motor vehicle fatality in Bavaria in June. A 2nd Cavalry Regiment soldier was killed in a head-on collision on a wet roadway near Vilseck on June 5.