SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA. (THECOUNT) — A least one Camp Pendleton marine is dead and 8 other missing following an amphibious assault vehicle crash off the coast of southern California Thursday.

Search and rescue efforts are underway Friday morning in an incident that occurred on Thursday involving Marines assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

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The search is being conducted with support from the Navy and Coast Guard, the Marines said in a tweet.

“We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident. I ask that you keep our Marines, Sailors, and their families in your prayers as we continue our search,” Col. Christopher Bronzi, the unit’s commanding officer, said in another tweet from the Marines.

The Marine Expeditionary Force is the Marine Corps’ main warfighting organization. There are three such groups which are made up of ground, air and logistics forces.

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Geo quick facts: San Diego County, officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the state of California, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 3,095,313, making it California’s second-most populous county and the fifth-most populous in the United States – Wikipedia.