MOSCOW, January 9 (Sputnik) – A catamaran taking around 100 tourists on a boat tour off the coast of Costa Rica sank in bad weather on Thursday, killing three people on board.
"The captain started to turn the wheel to the left. There were pretty heavy seas and we started to take water on, apparently on the right side," one sruvivor, American tourist Todd Olson told the BBC. "Within a minute it was flipped. Very fast, shocking," he said.
According to the AP, Costa Rican Vice President Ana Helena Chacon told reporters that 106 people had been rescued from the vessel, which had been carrying 99 passengers and ten crew. The three people who died were identified by authorities as one US citizen, one American and one Briton. "We want to extend our condolences to the victims' families," Chacon said at the news conference.
The 100-foot vessel was ferrying the tourists to Tortuga (Turtle) Island when it was blown over by strong wind and waves before sinking 15 kilometers from the shore on the country's Pacific Coast. The AP reports that despite a warning of strong winds buffeting the coast by the country's National Meteorological Institute, the boat had been given the go-ahead to sail by authorities at the port.
