Victims in fatal bus crash in southern Costa Rica were local health care workers

Residents in southern Costa Rica are mourning the deaths of three people – two of them health care workers – killed in a Friday evening bus crash that left several others seriously injured in Limoncito de Coto Brus, Puntarenas.

Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) reported that the victims were a 16-year-old girl with the last name Vargas, a 44-year-old woman with the last name Arguedas and a 53-year-old man with the last name Espinoza, who police believe was driving the bus. Ten others were injured.

The OIJ said the vehicle plunged approximately 100 meters over the edge of a cliff after leaving the road. The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Seven of the injured passengers were transported to hospitals, while three others were treated with minor injuries and released, the OIJ said.

According to the Red Cross in Coto Brus, many of the victims worked at a local hospital in the town of San Vito in Coto Brus. A Tico Times reader wrote in shock following the accident, saying she previously had been cared for by victims of the crash.