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SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) – Four US tourists and a Costa Rican guide have been killed in a rafting accident in the Central American country, US authorities said Sunday.
Three rafts rocked on the Naranjo River on Saturday around 15:00. and the five victims were taken downstream, according to the judicial investigation agency. Other passengers managed to hang on the rafts and some were rescued by another kayak guide.
The body identified the deceased as Ernesto Sierra, Jorge Caso, Sergio Lorenzo and Andres Dennis. He did not list the hometowns for them. The local guide was Kevin Thompson Reid.
In total, there were 14 raft tourists and five guides.
Authorities said the river was swollen by the rains and the National Emergency Commission had maintained an alert in the area because of the risk of flooding.
The Americans arrived in Costa Rica on October 18 and had rented a house in Playa Hermosa de Jaco, according to the government.
The Red Cross said via Facebook that the rafts have returned near Liverpool from Quepos.
The President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, said he was appalled by the accident on Twitter.
