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EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AP) — Military officials say crews have found human remains, after the crash of an Army helicopter over waters off Florida. Seven Marines and four soldiers are presumed dead.
The crash took place during a night training mission. Heavy fog has been hampering search efforts.
The helicopter -- a UH-60 Black Hawk from the Army National Guard -- was reported missing at around 8:30 p.m. yesterday. Crews found debris at around 2 a.m.
The National Weather Service says much of the area was enveloped in fog from yesterday evening until this morning -- with visibility at two miles or less for much of that time.
The crash scene is near a remote stretch of beach between Pensacola and Destin. The beach is owned by the military, and it's used for test missions. It's part of the Eglin (EHG'-lin) Air Force Base.
Officials at the base say the Marines were part of a special operations group based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. The soldiers were from a National Guard unit based in Hammond, Louisiana.
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138-c-11-(Melissa Nelson-Gabriel, AP correspondent)-"around 8:30 p.m."-AP correspondent Melissa Nelson-Gabriel reports the Marines and soldiers were participating in a night training exercise at Eglin Air Force Base in the Florida Panhandle. (11 Mar 2015)
<<CUT *138 (03/11/15)££ 00:11 "around 8:30 p.m."
141-c-13-(Melissa Nelson-Gabriel, AP correspondent)-"special operations training"-AP correspondent Melissa Nelson-Gabriel reports the helicopter crashed on beach owned by the military. (11 Mar 2015)
<<CUT *141 (03/11/15)££ 00:13 "special operations training"
APPHOTO FLPLA101: An Okaloosa County ambulance sits at the Eglin Air Force entrance in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., Wednesday, March 11, 2015. Seven Marines and four soldiers aboard an Army helicopter that crashed over waters off Florida during a routine night training mission were presumed dead Wednesday, and crews found human remains despite heavy fog hampering search efforts, military officials said. (AP Photo/Northwest Daily News, Devon Ravine) (11 Mar 2015)
<<APPHOTO FLPLA101 (03/11/15)££
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