After several days of searching, the u.s. military announced Sunday the end of the rescue operations.
They are now considered dead : the u.s. army announced Sunday the end of the search operations for eight american soldiers, who have disappeared at sea in a shipwreck on Thursday off the coast of california.
“It is with a heavy heart that I have decided to put an end to the search and rescue operations,” said colonel Christopher Bronzi, commanding officer of the 15th Marine expeditionary unit, in a press release.
The military, seven members of the Marine corps and a sailor in the US Navy, were aboard an amphibious assault vehicle, said AAV, which sank Thursday at 17: 45, near the island of San Clemente, a hundred kilometers off the coast of San Diego, in southern California, during an exercise routine.
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40 hours of research, unsuccessful
The troops were clothed in combat gear and equipped with life jackets, but the AAV, a kind of big tank floating, weighs more than 26 tons, and sank rapidly to more than 300 meters deep. In total, 16 military personnel were aboard the vehicle. Eight were able to be rescued. One of them later died, and two are in a critical state.
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The Marine corps, the U.S. Navy and the u.s. coast guard have searched more than 2,500 square miles using helicopters and ships to find the other, but have given up after 40 hours of unsuccessful.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident and in the meantime to find out more, all the operations on board AAV have been suspended, had clarified as early as Thursday, general David Berger, commanding officer of the Marine corps.
