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In
November 2018, one of the
survivors Luis Beltran and
friends gave an interview to
Good Morning America TV show,
describing the death of his
four friends. / ABC news
courtesy photo.
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Prosecutor
files charges against three linked
to death of four U.S. citizens
during rafting
By the A.M. Costa Rica
staff
The Prosecutor's office of Quepos
and Parrita filed an accusation
against three men, two of them
surnamed Contreras-Martínez, and
another surnamed Pessoa-Calvo.
They are suspected of having
caused a shipwreck, during a
rafting tour where four North
American tourists died.
According to the investigation,
the events occurred on October
20th, 2018, at 3:00 p.m., when the
suspects would have conducted an
excursion with the group of U.S.
tourists in the rapids of the Naranjo River*
in Quepos, Puntarenas.
The Prosecutor's office contends
that the suspects were aware of
the weather conditions making
rafting on the Naranjo River
risky.
"Apparently, five minutes after
the navigation began, the rafts in
which the victims traveled
overturned and people were dragged
by the current," the Prosecutor's
office said in its statement.
"According to the accusation, four
tourists died as a result of
suffocation asphyxiation."
The four U.S. citizens killed in
the rafting accident in Quepos
were identified as Ernesto Sierra,
Jorge Caso, Sergio Lorenzo, and
Andrés Dennis. The other victim
was the Costa Rican tour guide,
identified as Kevin Thompson.
Apparently, Contreras-Martínez was
on a raft, and he had to rescue
people if any eventuality
occurred. However, the
Prosecutor's office obtained
evidence that indicated that
during the accident, two other
tourists asked for help, but
Contreras-Martínez refused to
rescue them.
It is believed the survivors had
to swim to the shore to save their
lives.
The two men surnamed
Contreras-Martínez, both worked as
tour guides.
The other suspect, "Pessoa-Calvo
is a representative of the
expedition company named Kepoa,
based in Manuel Antonio," said
Luis Diego Hernández Araya, deputy
prosecutor of Puntarenas.
Evidence collected led to an
investigation against the three
suspects who are allegedly
responsible for committing the
crime of shipwreck.
One of the subjects, surnamed
Contreras-Martínez, is also
charged with the crime of omission
of help.
According to the Criminal Code:
Article 144, Omission of Aid is
"Finding a child under ten years
of age, or an injured person or a
person threatened with any danger,
lost or helpless, and failing to
provide necessary assistance
according to the circumstances, as
long as it can be done without
personal risk. "
Also, the code qualifies in
article 258 the penalty for
causing a shipwreck. "It will be
repressed with imprisonment of two
to six years for someone who,
knowingly, executes any act that
endangers the safety of a ship,
floating construction, or air
transport. If the event produces a
shipwreck, stranding, or air
disaster, the penalty shall be six
to twelve years in prison. If the
accident causes injury to any
person, the penalty will be six to
fifteen years in prison, and if it
causes death, it will be in prison
for eight to eighteen years. "
The Prosecutor is in the process
of communicating with the families
of the victims about this
accusation.
These relatives have three
business days to determine whether
or not they constitute
complainants, and, if so, they
must file a private accusation.
Families must also inform if they
intend to open a civil action, for
which they can claim compensation
for damages suffered. If that is
the case, they have ten days to
formulate and present the
documents corresponding to the
claim.
Once the Prosecutor's office
receives the documents from the
victims' families, they will
present the accusation and open a
trial request before the Criminal
Court.
In November 2018, one of the
survivors Luis Beltran and friends
gave an interview to Good Morning
America TV show, describing the
death of his four friends.
The interview can be seen at the ABC news channel
link here*.
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Should the Prosecutor's
office speed up the pre-trial
process due to the severity of the
accusations in the case? We would
like to know your thoughts on this
story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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