Rescuers find missing tourists in mountainous area near Arenal Volcano

Search teams on Saturday rescued two foreign tourists who were reported missing Friday after failing to return from a hike in a mountainous area in the Alajuela canton of San Carlos, near Arenal Volcano.

Walter Torres Zepeda, assistant director of the local tourist police, said he received a report at 4 p.m. on Friday about the disappearance of U.S. citizen David Yinglun and Spanish citizen Alicia Borga Álvarez, both 20, who earlier that day had entered Cerro Chato in the community of La Fortuna.

Rescue members from the Red Cross, with the assistance of the local fire department, National and Tourist Police, coordinated a rescue mission and entered the mountain that same evening, Torres said.

At dawn on Saturday the hikers managed to make a phone call from a mobile phone and also send some details on their location.

“That information allowed rescue teams to instruct them how to find shelter to spend the night and wait for us,” Torres said.

The steep slopes forced the rescue team to perform a vertical rescue operation.

Both of the tourists were assessed by Red Cross medical staff who reported they were “in very good conditions, except for some bruises and abrasions caused by a fall,” Torres explained.

Cerro Chato is located near Arenal Volcano: