/ COSTA RICA

Send this page to a friend

 HOME PAGE  •  ADVERTISE WITH US  •  SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

   | SEARCH • ARCHIVES 

Saturday 10 January 2009, San José, Costa Rica 

Death Toll Rises To 30, 100 More Still Missing
Tourists Evacuated After Fatal Quake
You Too Can Help

Cinchona Completely Disappears Off The Map
Armed Forces
Lower Inflation Expected In 2009
Pizzeria Staff Takes Savings to Costa Rica

 
Death Toll Rises To 30, 100 More Still Missing
The official death toll in Costa Rica's strongest earthquake in decades has risen to 30, with a hundred more missing, according to the Cruz Roja Costarricense (Costa Rican Red cross), who is heading the rescue and recovery efforts after the 6.2 quake hit on Thursday at 1:21pm.

The hundreds stranded in various parts of the area known as Vara Blanca were picked up by private helicopters working with the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) - national emergency commission.

The wailing sirens of ambulances and emergency vehicles from the Tobias Bolaños airport in Pavas to various medical centres in San José replaced the noise of the daily traffic in the west end, as the rescued were taken to the hospitals for evaluation.

The majority of those trapped were tourists from the United states, Canada, France, Spain and other countries were in the La Paz Waterfall Gardens at the time of the quake.

In the early morning hours of Friday the death toll was said to be 13. Red Cross and police authorities quickly corrected the news, saying communications over the police radio was misunderstood and the death toll was really 4. However, as the day progressed, more bodies were uncovered under the debris and the interior of vehicles trapped under the landslides.

The rescued told officials of seeing bodies everywhere. The efforts on Friday were centred on rescuing the survivors first and then begin the gruesome task of recovering the bodies.

Rescue and recovery efforts were hampered by poor rain conditions and the presence of aftershocks. However, the Cruz Roja said they would continue their efforts even in the presence of danger from the aftershocks, denying reports that rescue efforts had been suspended.

The quake centred some 10 kilometres east of the Poas volcano on the north face of the Central Valley mountains left areas where the roads are no longer, power lines down, the Cariblanco power generating station with serious damage that will take time to repaid.

Many of the homes of the area were seriously damaged, some beyond repair, as the strongest quake in the last 150 years .

It will take some time for the area to get back to normal, especially where the road vanished into the mountain side as new routes will have to be carved out and built.
 
 

 

 

 
 

Advertise With Us | Subscribe To Our Newsletter | Archives | Search | About Us Online Shop | Learn Spanish | Photo Gallery |  Links
2133-1000 San José, Costa Rica  E-Mail: [email protected]  Telephone: (506) 8845 5800  / (506) 2231 3205  Fax: (506) 2232 6337
©2008  INSIDECOSTARICA.COM  All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy For more information on this website contact: [email protected]
Website Design, Hosting & Maintenance by: iStarmedia Internet Solutions