Two women died and seven other people were seriously injured Wednesday morning when a passenger bus overturned on Route 4 in Sarapiquí, Heredia, leaving dozens of passengers needing emergency medical attention. The accident occurred around 7:55 a.m. on October 28 in the community of Chiripa de Río Frío, near Horquetas de Sarapiquí. The bus overturned onto its side approximately 400 meters from the Palmitour restaurant, trapping several passengers inside.
The Costa Rican Red Cross confirmed that an elderly woman died at the scene. A second woman died while being transported by ambulance to the Hospital de Guápiles. Authorities had not released the victims’ identities. Emergency crews attended to 54 people following the crash. According to the Red Cross’s final assessment, seven were classified as critically injured, while another 32 required urgent medical attention. Thirteen people did not need to be taken to a hospital.
The scale of the accident prompted one of the region’s larger emergency responses in recent months. The Red Cross deployed approximately 29 ambulances and 70 emergency workers, including paramedics, doctors, nurses and rescue personnel. Firefighters arriving at the scene found the bus lying on its side, with passengers unable to escape. Four people were pinned inside the wreckage and had to be freed using specialized rescue equipment.
Firefighters also reported a fuel spill from the overturned vehicle, adding another hazard as rescue teams worked to reach the injured. Ambulances transported patients to medical facilities across northern and central Costa Rica, including clinics in Río Frío and Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, as well as hospitals in Guápiles, San Carlos and Heredia.
The emergency response involved teams from Heredia, Limón, Alajuela and San José, along with specialized rescue personnel from the Red Cross’s national emergency response division. The accident took place along Route 4, an important highway connecting communities in northern Costa Rica with the Route 32 corridor toward the Caribbean coast. The affected stretch passes through the Sarapiquí region, where buses provide transportation between rural communities and larger towns.
The cause of the crash remained unknown Wednesday afternoon. Authorities had not publicly established whether road conditions, mechanical problems or driver actions contributed to the accident. The Red Cross’s latest confirmed report placed the death toll at two, with seven other people in critical condition
