red cross

A 40-year-old woman from the United States drowned in an accident on the Sarapiquí river Thursday, the Costa Rican Red Cross confirmed to The Tico Times.

Two Canadian tourists identified by the Red Cross in Puntarenas as Andrea Bell, 70, and 2-year-old Jasmine Rodríguez Olching drowned on Monday afternoon at Playa Hermosa, a northern Pacific beach in Cóbano, on Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula.

Costa Rica’s Red Cross reported that 79 people died by accidents and other violent causes in the first 19 days of this month. That exceeds by 27 the number of deaths registered in the same period last year, when the Red Cross reported 52 deaths.

Faced with the threat of continued heavy rains and a dramatic weekend of landslides that left thousands of motorists stranded, Costa Rican highway officials decided to play it safe and close the main route linking San José with the Caribbean coast on Wednesday. But transit has returned to normal today, after officials reopened the route at 6 a.m. this morning.

As heavy rains continue to fall in Costa Rica, highway officials have ordered Route 32 to be closed as of 2 p.m. on Wednesday. The main highway through the Braulio Carrillo National Park and connecting San José with the Caribbean coast will remain closed for at least a day, officials said. Officials also are evaluating the possible closure of Route 27 to the central Pacific coast.

The mountainous Route 32 to the Caribbean coast reopened over the weekend to normal traffic following an unprecedented natural disaster involving at least 40 landslides that trapped thousands of motorists for eight hours last Thursday night and Friday morning. Miraculously, no one was seriously injured.

A harrowing Thursday evening continued into early Friday morning for hundreds of motorists trapped on the Braulio Carrillo Highway that connects San José to the Caribbean port city of Limón. Heavy rains triggered multiple landslides that stranded 380 people for hours in the dark and rain.

According to the Costa Rican Red Cross, August was the most violent month so far this year, with 102 deaths in "tragic circumstances," a term the agency uses in statistics to refer to both homicides and accidents. The report was released on Tuesday.

A pilot died Friday morning after the ultralight airplane he was flying crashed in Parrita, Puntarenas.

Accidents and assaults have claimed the lives of 25 people so far this Semana Santa, according to a report released by the Costa Rican Red Cross.