Feb 16, 2002 – Pacuare

Report ID#85597

2002-02-16
accident date
Guide Trainee
victim
21
victim age
Pacuare
river
n/a
section
Lower Wacas Rapid
location
n/a
gage
n/a
water level
IV
river difficulty
Flush Drowning
cause code(s)
Does not Apply
injury type(s)
n/a
factors
Commercial
trip type
Raft
boat type
status?
status

Description

Phil Meyer reported that Costa Ricas famous Paucare River was the scene of a commercial rafting accident on February 16th. The trip consisted of a raft with two paying clients, a guide, and two guide trainees. The raft got too far left in Class IV Lower Wacas Rapid and washed up on some rocks above a ledge. The guide and his crew bounced the boat free, but then they dropped into a large hole and flipped. Everyone was taken down deep, then the boat and the people washed into an undercut rock wall. The victim, a 21 year-old trainee, was unconscious when he surfaced. Guides from several companies pulled him ashore and began CPR, but could not revive him. An autopsy showed that the victim, who had a history of shoulder problems, had dislocated his shoulder during the accident.