One Marine died in the amphibious vehicle accident on Thursday. Search and rescue operations to find the missing eight people were called off on Saturday.
By Christine Hauser and Marie Fazio
Published July 31, 2020
Updated Aug. 2, 2020,
11:08 a.m. ET, The New York Times
Eight American service members who were missing after an accident off the coast of Southern California are now presumed dead after search and rescue efforts were called off on Saturday evening, the authorities said.
The service members, seven marines and a sailor, had been aboard an amphibious assault vehicle that took on water and sank on Thursday. Another marine died and two service members were injured.
The service members were assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Pendleton, in the San Diego area. Efforts were now turning to recovering the remains of the eight presumed dead, the Marines said.
“It is with a heavy heart that I decided to conclude the search and rescue effort,” Col. Christopher Bronzi, a commanding officer, said in a statement on Saturday. “The steadfast dedication of the Marines, sailors and Coast Guardsmen to the persistent rescue effort was tremendous.”
At the time of the accident the vehicle was traveling from San Clemente Island back to a ship that was more than 1,000 meters off shore, Gen. David H. Berger, Commandant of the Marine Corps, said on Friday.
Two nearby amphibious assault vehicles witnessed it sink and were able to pinpoint its exact location, General Berger said.
Officials said it was unclear how the accident happened. The depth of the water drops off quickly around the island, so the vehicle was in several hundred feet of water when it sank, said Lt. Gen. Joseph L. Osterman, commanding general of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. When the vehicle left shore, conditions had been acceptable for travel, he said.
General Osterman estimated that the oldest person aboard the vehicle was around mid-30s in age and that the youngest was around 18. Those on board were wearing combat gear and flotation devices, he said.
There are around 800 amphibious assault vehicles in Marine inventory, he said, each of which can carry up to 21 people and weigh 26 tons.
A.A.V.’s are slow, lightly armored and are considered by many Marines as particularly vulnerable, especially during conflict. As the Marines have sought a replacement, the A.A.V. has remained a cornerstone in the Corps’ inventory, simply because of its amphibious capabilities. It is prone to leaking while at sea from both its rear ramp and troop compartment.
Camp Pendleton hosts the largest Marine base on the West Coast, and Marines often practice beach assaults there using the amphibious troop transport vehicles.
Marines have used the vehicles to move troops from the sea and land since the 1970s. In 2017, 15 Marines were wounded when an amphibious vehicle they were training in caught fire at Camp Pendleton.
Thomas Gibbons-Neff contributed reporting. Camp Pendleton, in Southern California, hosts the largest Marine base on the West Coast. Mike Blake/Reuters
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