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14 Feb 2006 |
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Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, February 14, 2006
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Drivers in Saturday's Fatal Bus Accident
In Preventive Detention
The drivers of a bus and a trailer that collided on the Inter-American Highway Saturday night, killing six people and injuring 20, were ordered to three months in preventative detention yesterday while they are investigated for manslaughter, according to Judicial branch spokeswoman Sandra Castro.
(Click for more)
New Business Chamber
Connects Nicaragua, Costa Rica
A business chamber formed late last year offers private-sector leaders in Costa Rica and Nicaragua a new forum for networking and mutual support across the border.
(Click for more)
Sweden's Johan Axgren
Wins
Costa Rican Open Golf
Tournament in Tiebreaker
Johan Axgren, from Sweden, was proclaimed champion of the Costa Rica Open golf tournament, part of the Tour of the Americas, after defeating fellow Swede Alexander Noren Sunday in a three-hole tiebreaker.
(Click for more)
February 14
Happy Valentine's Day!
Live Concert
Special musical performances for Valentine's Day, including one by Tico Times photographer Mónica Quesada. 9 p.m., Tex Mex Bar and Restaurant, Santa Ana, west of San José. Info: 282-6342.
Valentine's Day Dinner
Including long-stemmed roses for ladies, raffle with prizes, Costa Rican bottled wines from Casa Alvarados. Big Mike's, Escazú. Info: 289-6087.
Romantic Concert
With Alvaro Torres from El Salvador and Gaviota and Trio Matices, Valentine's dinner, 7 p.m., Tennis Club, Sabana, west of San José. Tickets on sale at Vértigo Stores in San José area including Multiplaza Escazú, San Pero Mall, Plaza del Sol, Paseo de las Flores Mall and Real Cariari Mall.
Valentine's Dancing
7 p.m.-10 p.m., Plaza de los Artes, in front of La Soledad Church, Ca. 7, Av. 2/6, San José.
Edited By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Drivers in Saturday's Fatal Bus
Accident
In Preventive Detention
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
The drivers of a bus and a trailer that collided on the Inter-American Highway Saturday night, killing six people and injuring 20, were ordered to three months in preventative detention yesterday while they are investigated for manslaughter, according to Judicial branch spokeswoman Sandra Castro.
Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ), together with the Puntarenas Prosecutor's Office, are investigating the accident, Castro said.
The bus driver, identified by the name of Alarcón, was driving 26 passengers from Tegucigalpa, Honduras (though Red Cross officials yesterday said the bus left from San Salvador) to Costa Rica when he collided with a trailer carrying long metal poles, driven by Marco Barías (TT Online, Feb. 13). The accident occurred on kilometer 432 of the Pan-American Highway, outside the Pacific port city of Puntarenas.
The passengers aboard the bus, which belongs to the Salvadoran company King Quality, are from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and the United States, according to Red Cross spokesman Alexander Porras.
The six killed have been identified as Rodolfo Castillo, 13, from Panama; Rosanilda Medina, 50, from Honduras; María Estela Meléndez, 28, from El Salvador; Dolores Valladares, 65, from El Salvador; Glenda Varela, 40, from Honduras and Larissa Chávez, 27, from Honduras, according to a statement from OIJ.
Barías told the daily La Nación that the bus was speeding around a narrow curve when it hit his trailer.
“The bus was out of its lane; it had just passed another vehicle. I tried to avoid it, but I couldn't,” said Barías, who is Guatemalan and was driving the trailer from that country to Costa Rica.
The weight of the trailer's metal cargo produced great impact as it scraped against the left side of the bus and the long metal poles hit passengers in the rear of the bus, Porras said.
One of the passengers, Ramón Nolasco, lost his wife, Rosanilda Medina, according to La Nación. The Honduran couple boarded the bus in Tegucigalpa and was on their way to Costa Rica to spend their 27th wedding anniversary.
Medina, who was sitting by the window, was hit and killed by the metal poles as the trailer scraped against the bus' left side.
“I didn't realize the accident was happening because I was sleeping beside my wife,” Nolasco said. “The impact woke me up … I took her in my arms and she died.”
New Business Chamber
Connects Nicaragua, Costa Rica
A business chamber formed late last year offers private-sector leaders in Costa Rica and Nicaragua a new forum for networking and mutual support across the border.
The Costa Rican-Nicaraguan Business Chamber was created in September 2005 as an initiative of the Nicaraguan Embassy in San José and business executives from both countries. Ambassador Francisco Fiallos is the organization's honorary president.
According to a statement from the chamber, its goal is to facilitate the flow of trade and investment between the two countries and defend its members' interests. The organization plans to offer services including a publication with information relevant to business and investment; a commercial directory for affiliated businesses; workshops; seminars and commercial missions; and expedited consular services at the Nicaraguan Embassy.
An estimated 800 Costa Rican businesses have interests in Nicaragua, the statement said.
Members pay $50 per month, with an initial membership fee of $200. For more information, call 257 2929, ext. 231.
-Tico Times
Sweden's Johan Axgren Wins
Costa Rican
Open
Golf Tournament in Tiebreaker
Johan Axgren, from Sweden, was proclaimed champion of the Costa Rica Open golf tournament, part of the Tour of the Americas, after defeating fellow Swede Alexander Noren Sunday in a three-hole tiebreaker.
The Swedes finished four days of competition Sunday with 277 swings, for a score of 7-under-par, and had to extend the round by three holes, which allowed Axgren to gain a one-swing lead that won him the title.
Third place was shared by Gustavo A costa, from Argentina, and Jesús Amaya, from Colombia, who finished two swings away from the Swedes.
On the final day of the tournament, Ariel Cañete, from Argentina, was ahead, but several errors brought him down to sixth place, according to Costa Rica Open's Web site.
The tournament, which took place last Thursday through Sunday at Cariari Country Club, northwest of San José, drew professional golfers from around Latin America and Europe. The Costa Rica Open is part of the Tour of the Americas and the European Challenge Tour.
- ACAN-EFE
