On October 20th, Costa Rica made history. The Centra-American country had not witnessed such a serious traffic accident in the last 32 years, in which so many human lives were lost.
In 1984, a bus lost control of its brakes on Casa de Florencia Bridge, in San Carlos, and it crashed. 19 people died and 97 were seriously injured.
However, the tragedy returned.
On October 20th, a similar event took place, but this time in Cinchona, one kilometer away from the La Paz Waterfall.
A group of adults and seniors from the National University (UNA) were on a bus heading towards the north of the country in order to take food to Guatuso indigenous territory.
Nevertheless, a few meters from the famous Codo del Diablo curve (Devil’s Elbow curve), in Vara Blanca, the bus overturned and fell into a cliff of about 15 meters.
Eleven people died at the site, 16 were seriously injured and 3 were lightly injured, including Leda Ramírez.
I see the images, I see the feet and shoes and legs. I remember calling a partner and she lifted her hand indicating that was fine. I know she died later,
declared 65-year-old Ramírez.
Then the number of deaths increased to 15 because 4 victims died in medical centers.
The reasons are still unknown. Human error or mechanical failure? The Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ) has not revealed these details yet and citizens will have to wait 2 more weeks for a report.