Access to Turrialba Volcano Restricted
The Comisión Nacional de Emergencia (CNE) has restricted access to the volcán Turrialba to a maximum of 100 people at a time as preventive measure as the volcano experiences an increase in the release of water and sulfur vapours.

Daniel Gallardo, president of the CNE made the announcement, saying "not that there exists an imminent danger, but there is more gas being released that has burned the surrounding vegetation, and as such it is important to control the access to the park".

The alert was made by several tourists to the park Saturday morning, which prompted the arrival of Lidier Esquivel of the CNE, volcanologist Gerardo Soto and geologist Geovanna Méndez to the site.

Following analysis of what is happening at the volcano, the experts ruled out an imminent eruption but did order the visitor restrictions.

The expers also called on the park managers to control the mass of curious people that are expected to visit the volcano on hearing the news.

Some 600 people daily visit the Parque Nacional volcán Turrialba.

The Turrialba is one of five active volcanoes in the country and last erupted in 1886.

The Turrialba volcano, is part of the Central Mountain Range and it is located in Cartago province. It is the second higher volcano (3329), surpassed only for the Irazú (3432).

The Turrialba has three craters, the central (in which you can walk), the east and the west. The access to this last one is forbidden for visitors, because its path is very deteriorated.

The Turrialba Volcano was named after the region of Costa Rica in which the volcano is situated. There is no clear consensus on the origin of the name Turrialba, but historians disagree with attempts to attribute the name to the patronym Torrealba (from Aragon in Spain) or from the Latin Turris alba (white tower). The general consensus is that Turrialba derives from a local Indian language (Huetar) but there is no agreement on its actual roots.

The Turrialba is one of the least visited in Costa Rica due to the long journey on foot required to reach the summit.