A 25-year-old mother and her 1-and-a-half-year-old son are dead after a bus traveling from San José to Alajuela veered off the General Cañas highway just past the Crowne Plaza Corobicí Hotel near La Sabana and descended into a ravine.
The bus was carrying 55 passengers, who all survived, but at least seven were taken to area hospitals with injuries ranging from minor to serious.
Before crashing through vegetation and dropping nearly 150 feet, the bus struck 25-year-old Jenny Venegas and her child, who were walking home from the nearby Mas x Menos supermarket, along with a 5-year-old nephew and 7-year-old brother. Her nephew and brother were unharmed.
Family members, who stood at the scene of the accident for hours, described Venegas as a “caring” person, who had many friends in the neighborhood.
According to witnesses, the bus was forced off the road when the truck it was tailing allegedly hit the brakes without warning. Preliminary reports alleged that the bus was traveling at an excessive speed.
But Traffic Police Assistant Director Marcelo Morera said it was difficult to know the speed of the bus at the time of the accident.
“The signs say the limit is 90 kilometers per hour,” he said. “Normally, traffic travels at a faster rate, but we can’t say the velocity for sure.”
The road, which is part of the Inter-American Highway, remained closed from the noontime accident to 6 p.m. as emergency crews continued rescue operations and conducted investigations
