KILLER Waves: The Red Cross yesterday attributed nine of the 31 deaths recorded during the Easter holidays last week to drownings in dangerous waters at beaches and rivers. Here, rough waves pound the rocks at Malpaís, on the Pacific Nicoya Peninsula.

Large-scale fishing in the Pacific Gulf of Nicoya will be prohibited during the months of May, June and July, according to a decree published recently in the official government daily La Gaceta.

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Electro-acoustic music, 7 p.m., room 107, School of Music, University of Costa Rica (UCR), San Pedro, east of San José.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

While Ticos and tourists were out enjoying last week's Easter holidays with trips to beaches, rivers and other destinations, Red Cross workers and volunteers had the unpleasant tasks of attending to emergencies and keeping tabs on how many deaths occurred.

As it does every year, the Red Cross yesterday released its count of deaths during Easter Holy Week, or Semana Santa; this year's total was 31, according to a statement from the organization.

The dailies La Nación and La Teja yesterday reported 40 deaths during the week, a figure that surpasses Red Cross counts because it includes people who died after being taken to hospitals, Red Cross spokeswoman Noemi Coto explained. The Red Cross counts only deaths “on site.”

Of the 31 deaths registered by the Red Cross from April 1-8, 12 occurred on the roads, nine in aquatic accidents, three from trauma caused by falls and other accidents, five by firearm injuries and two by other causes.

Additionally, Red Cross workers transported 98 people in delicate condition to hospitals, while 44 people were rescued from drowning, according to the statement.

Workers are still searching for a 13-year-old boy identified as Felipe Camacho who disappeared Friday from the waters of Playa Naranjo in the northwestern Guanacaste province.

This year's Semana Santa death toll is higher than last year's 27, but lower than 1999's record 47 victims, Coto said.

These counts are “not a source of satisfaction,” since they are much higher than the rest of the year, she said. For example, a normal month sees an average of six drownings, compared to the nine that occurred last week alone, and during an average week, Red Cross workers attend to about 4,000 highway accidents, compared to last week's 6,406.

“Unfortunately, we're seeing more and more violent highway accidents with five, six or seven people involved instead of just one or two,” Coto said.

A group of five people about to make their way across the La Amistad Bridge to the northwestern Guanacaste province's Nicoya Peninsula were arrested for allegedly transporting 462 doses of Ecstasy and 210 grams of marijuana, according to a statement from the Public Security Ministry.

Five people identified by the last names Araya, Hise, Monestel and two brothers named Del Cid were stopped at one of the checkpoints set up during Semana Santa to combat drug trafficking and other crimes, the statement said. In addition to the drugs, police confiscated ¢155,260 ($299) and $255.

This seizure marks the first one so far this year of Ecstasy, a synthetic drug that is usually found in Costa Rica on its way to Europe. Last year, Drug Control Police confiscated 5,938 doses of this drug.

The ministry is out to fight this type of “narcotourism,” or the trafficking of drugs to tourist destinations by Costa Ricans and foreigners. Citizens who have information about drugs are encouraged to call the 24-hour hotline 176, the statement said.

-Tico Times

Large-scale fishing in the Pacific Gulf of Nicoya will be prohibited during the months of May, June and July, according to a decree published recently in the official government daily La Gaceta.

The ban is aimed at “recuperating species and populations that have their reproductive cycles in this gulf,” said MarViva director Francisco Estrada in a statement released by the private Costa Rican conservation organization.

Semi-industrial fishing and shrimp harvesting will be prohibited during this time, as well as fishing with certain types of heavy-duty nets and lines. However, some small-scale fishing will be allowed as long as it is approved by the Costa Rican Fisheries Institute (INCOPESCA), the statement said.

INCOPESCA published the decree one month before it will go into effect to give fishermen a chance to become aware of it and to allow them find alternative income, seeking help from institutions such as the Mixed Institute for Social Aid (IMAS) if they choose.