(Update) Red Cross lowers death toll to 4 in Costa Rica quake

Jul	05
2009

(Update) Red Cross lowers death toll to 4 in Costa Rica quake

Agence France-Presse | 01/10/2009 12:55 AM

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SAN JOSE - The Costa Rican Red Cross on Friday revised downward its death toll from the powerful earthquake that rocked the Central American nation to four, hours after saying that 14 people had died.

"There were problems with a radio communication from a (rescue) patrol" in the area of the Poas volcano, the epicenter of the 6.1-magnitude temblor, which led the Red Cross to take for dead 10 people who were in fact missing, a spokesman for the humanitarian organization said.

The patrol was "reporting on a group of missing," but radio communication trouble led the Red Cross to misinterpret the message and early Friday announced 10 fatalities in the area of Cataratas, the organization said.

as of 01/10/2009 1:10 AM