UPDATE: US tourist drowns in Costa Rica rafting trip

Update: Monday, Feb. 2: This post has been updated with additional reporting.

A 35-year-old woman from Madison, Wis. identified as Amanda Hellman drowned in a whitewater rafting accident on the Sarapiquí River Thursday, the Costa Rican Red Cross confirmed to The Tico Times.

The accident happened near La Virgen de Sarapiquí, 100 kilometers north of the Costa Rican capital, where Hellman was on an excursion with her husband while on their honeymoon.

Hellman and her group entered a section of rapids and three people, including the victim, were thrown into the river. The other two were pulled to safety, but Hellman was caught in an undertow, said Marco Monge, press representative for the Judicial Investigative Police. One of the men in the group tried to rescue Hellman, but she was pinned underneath a tree in the river and drowned. The Red Cross team of two dispatched to the river was unable to revive her.

Contact the reporter of this story at: zdyer@ticotimes.net