Tourist Ferryboat Sinks off Nicaragua, Killing 13 Costa Ricans
KABUL: (MEP) Thirteen Costa Rican tourists from Central America have lost their lives after a tourist boat with 32 people on board sank off the coast of Nicaragua due to bad weather on Saturday, authorities said.
Nicaraguan government spokeswoman and First Lady Rosario Murillo said that “of the 32 passengers, 13 lost their lives, all of them are Costa Rican.”
“The other passengers survived and were shifted to nearby Big Corn Island.” She added.
The boat, Reina del Caribe, was ferrying tourists between popular tourist spots Big Corn Island and Little Corn Island on 23 January when strong winds and heavy rain turned it over. According to the officials, the boat had a total of 25 Costa Ricans, four Americans and three Nicaraguans on board.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the incident.
“There was a warning that the weather conditions would be bad, but it appears that was ignored and this tragedy happened,” Mario Berrios, the Nicaraguan navy’s commander for the southern Caribbean region said.
Nicaraguan authorities were working with their Costa Rican counterparts to repatriate the bodies Sunday.
