A 19-year-old soldier is fighting for his life after almost drowning during military training at Chadwick Lakes yesterday morning.

Private Matthew Psaila was walking against the current through the lakes with colleagues when he suddenly went under the water, which was quite deep following the heavy rains of the past days.

The authorities said it was still unclear why he went under and remained in the dirty water. His family said the young soldier could not swim.

The family said colleagues did not realise he had fallen into the water until they emerged at the other side of the bridge they were walking under about 10 minutes later, by which time he had lost consciousness.

Scores of footprints, probably caused by his colleagues' heavy boots, could still be noticed imprinted in the mud yesterday afternoon and the broken plants on both sides of the bridge are witness to a flurry of activity as they ran back to find their fellow soldier among the discarded plastic bottles and aluminium cans.

Once they brought him onto the bank, they immediately called for assistance and he was rushed to hospital, where he remains in critical condition and in intensive care.

Duty Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera held an onsite inquiry in the afternoon together with a number of court experts.

Police Superintendent Carmel Bartolo and Inspectors Robert Vella and Joseph Agius were present, together with army commander Brigadier Carmel Vassallo. They were accompanied by scores of soldiers and police officers.

Chadwick Lakes are deceptively deep at certain points, especially after heavy rains, and it is harder to swim in fresh water than salty. Besides, the extremely cold conditions would not have helped.

Private Psaila, who hails from Ta' Xbiex, will be turning 20 in just over a week's time.

Family members said he took up a career in the army after completing college, stressing that to the young soldier the army was not just a job as it was part of him. He formed part of the army's special duties group.

An online social network shows he is clearly a military enthusiast. He is also a man who lives the moment and a poignant quote of his web page stands out: "...It's very hard sometimes in life. There are things that happen that you don't know, which you don't understand and you don't know if you're going to get through. You go through your storms in life and you don't know how long the storm's going to be..."