Four American nationals are confirmed dead after a white water rafting trip ended in tragedy.
Ernesto Sierra, Jorge Caso, Sergio Lorenzo and Andres Dennis died along with the rafting guide when several rafts flipped over just minutes into the rafting expedition.
They were part of a group of 14 men on a stag party trip in Costa Rica who all took part in the rafting activity.
The victims are from the Miami-Dade area and aged between 25 and 35 years old.
One of the dead was the brother of the groom.
The Costa Rican tour guide who died was named as Kevin Thompson Reid
One of the survivors, Anthony Castro, described the incident in a GoFundMe post looking to raise funds for the victims.
“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,” he wrote.
He said the four who died were unable to grab hold of rocks to stop them being swept downstream at great speed.
In recent days Costa Rica has had heavy rains making causing high water levels.
Luis Guzman, of the Costa Rican Red Cross, told CNN Espanol three rafts carrying 18 people overturned in the swollen river just minutes into the ride.
Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada posted his condolences on Twitter.
“I would like to express our deepest sorrow for the accident. I would like to thank all the emergency and security teams that worked diligently, and I have instructed authorities to help the victim’s families,” he wrote.
