Speeding Car Kills Three So. Calif. Marines

A speeding car crashed into a tree in Dana Point today, killing three Camp Pendleton-based U.S. Marines and critically injuring a fourth, authorities said.

The Dodge Stratus crashed shortly at Golden Lantern Street just past Terra Vista at 2:05 a.m., said Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino.

Two men died at the scene, and one died at a hospital, Amormino said. The fourth man was hospitalized in critical condition at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.

Authorities were trying to determine if alcohol was a factor in the crash, Amormino said.