12 killed in Costa Rica bus accident

By Maria Paz Salas

SANTIAGO, Chile

At least 12 people were killed Thursday in a bus accident in a mountainous area near Costa Rica´s capital of San Jose, officials said Thursday.

Fifteen others were injured as the bus transported retired university employees to the Maleku indigenous reserve in Guatuso in the country’s north.

The director of the fire department said 12 of the injured are in serious condition and three are stable. Rescue units from the Red Cross and two government helicopters were at the scene.

There were 31 people aboard the bus when an apparent mechanical problem caused it to fall of about 40 meters (150 feet) off a cliff near Cinchona, a village around 25 kilometers (16 miles) north of San Jose.

Witnesses told local television that the brakes failed on the bus and the driver couldn’t stop before approaching the edge.

The passengers were retired staff members of the National University on a social work misison, according to the institution.

President Luis Guillermo Solis issued a statement via tweeted. “I express a deep anguish over the tragic accident in Cinchona this morning. The loss of lives unites us in solidarity”, he said and declared three days of mourning.