Costa Rica Bachelor Party water rafting trip victims identified: Tragedy claims the lives of four Florida men and a local. Offices of adventure rafting expedition raided.
Four American men killed on a rafting trip in Costa Rica over the weekend have been identified. The men’s death follows their raft capsizing within five minutes of setting off on a flooded river during bachelor party trip.
Identified as the victims were Ernesto Sierra, Jorge Caso, Sergio Lorenzo and Andres Denis. Local media reported all four men dying after their raft flipped over on the Naranjo river shortly after Saturday, 3pm.
It took rescue teams five hours to recover all of their bodies the Associated Press reported.
All four of the men were from Miami and were celebrating their friend Luis Beltran‘s bachelor party at the time. Local guide Kevin Thompson Reid also died.
‘What was meant to be a weekend to remember for 14 friends turned into a living nightmare,’ Chris Comas, who survived the incident, said in a statement.
Police investigating the deaths of four Americans on a bachelor party in Costa Rica are focusing on the tour company that took them on a deadly rafting trip.
The Americans were killed when their raft capsized, along with their Costa Rican tour guide. @krisvancleave reports: pic.twitter.com/nKOc2Rfd70
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) October 22, 2018
The four Miami men were part of a group of 14 which had been split into three rafts by their guides.
Their trip was delayed an hour by rain and wind on Saturday, but they were confident it would be safe when they got in the water.
Within minutes, all three rafts capsized in the overpowering currents.
Most of the men grabbed on to rocks to stop themselves from being carried away but the four who drowned could not fight strongly enough against the water.
Lorenzo, the groom’s brother, was a father-of-four.
The others were young men who were about to embark on jobs after recently graduating from college, according to their relatives.
Tragic rafting accident in which 4 American tourists & guide are killed in Costa Rica. @VictorOquendo has the latest on the tragedy. https://t.co/T3gtmmd6PF pic.twitter.com/iwiyJGI5X7
— Good Morning America (@GMA) October 22, 2018
Costa Rica Bachelor Party water rafting trip tragedy: Investigators raid offices of expedition organizers.
The Americans arrived in Costa Rica Oct. 18 and had been renting a house in Playa Hermosa de Jaco, according to the Costa Rican government.
Survivors from the bachelor party are fundraising to help their families deal with the cost of bringing their bodies home and laying them to rest.
On a GoFundMe page set up by the group, they described fighting for their lives as the waters carried them out of their rafts.
‘When we first arrived, it was windy and raining, and the professional tour guides advised that we wait a bit before going out on the water.
‘Less than an hour later, we got the okay to head out, and the 14 of us separated onto 3 different rafts.
‘Within five minutes of being out on the river, all three rafts capsized, and everyone ended up in the water.
‘Everyone struggled to get back on the rafts, with some efforts being successful, but ultimately the rafts continued to capsize due to the immense current.
‘Within minutes, all of us were careening down the river with life jackets and helmets just trying to stabilize and find something to hold on to.
Throughout the dangerous ride down the river, all of us struggled to stay above water, swallowing lots of it on the way down as our bodies ricocheted against the rocks in the water while struggling to survive.
‘Most of us were ultimately able to grab hold of rocks or barriers in or around the water and await the rescue teams to get to us. Unfortunately, not all of us were so lucky,’ the description said.
The page has raised $16, 942 of its $100,000 target.
Costa Rica Bachelor Party rafting trip tragedy: Investigators seek answers.
The rafting company involved has not been named but local police were seen raiding its offices in Quespos on Sunday.
At the time of the accident, there was a warning in place for possible flooding.
Costa Rica’s president Carlos Alvarado Quesada expressed his sympathies for the victims’ families on Twitter.
The police investigation into the accident continues.
COSTA RICA RAFTERS- Van Cleave CTM PKG MON0085- Police investigating the deaths of 4 Americans at a bachelor party in Costa Rica are focusing on the company that took them on a deadly rafting trip. The raft capsized Sat. near the town of Quepos on a river popular with tourists. pic.twitter.com/5r7cKXgLTC
— CBS Newspath (@cbsnewspath) October 22, 2018
