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HomeTopicsEnvironment and WildlifeTravel Alert: Landslide closes kilometer 33 of Inter-American Highway South at 'Cerro...

Travel Alert: Landslide closes kilometer 33 of Inter-American Highway South at ‘Cerro de la Muerte’

A 105-meter landslide at a depth of 20 meters in the early hours of Thursday has closed the Inter-American Highway South (Route 2) at kilometer 33, in an area known as Cerro de la Muerte.

Public Works and Transport Ministry (MOPT) officials have reported that the outside lane of the road has collapsed due to water saturation from constant rains in the area, the ministry’s director of emergency situations, David Meléndez, said.

“Earlier this morning a motorcycle and a car drove into the landslide, but the motorists were unharmed,” MOPT reported in a press release Thursday morning.

MOPT officials tweeted that it could take up to a month to reopen the route:

https://twitter.com/moptcr/status/560917386552180736

Traffic Police recommend drivers take alternative roads via routes 222 and 228.

“These routes allow passage through El Empalme, following the communities of Corralillo, Quebradilla, Santa Elena, Frailes and La Lucha. Motorists coming from the other direction should travel via Route 209 by Río Conejo and follow exits at Aserrí or Desamparados, south of San José. Heavy trucks must use the Costanera Highway through Palmar Norte,” the police report stated.

(Via MOPT Facebook)
(Via MOPT Facebook)

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L. Arias
L. Arias
Reporter | The Tico Times |
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