DANA POINT – Three Marines from Camp Pendleton have died and a fourth remains in critical condition after a high-speed crash early Tuesday morning.

The crash is still under investigation, but officials with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department believe the driver of a Dodge Stratus – along with three passengers – was traveling at high speeds and lost control of the vehicle.

The Stratus was traveling north on Golden Lantern Street when it crashed into a tree near Terra Vista, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department. No other vehicles were involved.

The crash was reported at 2:05 a.m., he said.

Two of the men were pronounced dead at the scene, he said. A third died at a nearby hospital.

The driver is in critical condition at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Amormino said, but their names and ages were not immediately available.

Deputies are investigating the crash, and trying to determine where the four had been prior to the crash, he said.

The men were described as being in their early 20s.

Firefighters cut two of the men – the driver and a passenger – out of the mangled wreck of the Dodge Stratus, said Capt. Marc Stone of the Orange County Fire Authority. It took firefighters about 20 minutes to cut through the vehicle, he said. The men were then taken to Mission Hospital.

The sheriff’s Major Accident Reconstruction Team has been called to investigate, and officials at the Marine base have been notified about the fatal crash

Southbound lanes of Golden Lantern are open to traffic, but northbound lanes have been shut down, said Lt. Dan Dwyer.

All lanes are expected to be open by 8 a.m.

Contact the writer: shernandez@ocregister.com or 949-454-7361