Three elderly passengers died Thursday when the tourist boat they were on sank in the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica's west coast, dpa reported. The victims were an 80-year-old Briton, a 70-year-old Canadian and a 68-year-old US citizen, Costa Rica's security ministry said. Another 106 people were rescued. Their catamaran left for the island of Tortuga on Thursday morning. It ran into heavy seas and sank about 11 kilometres from Punta Leona. Carolina Ulate of Costa Rica, a passenger on the vessel, said the captain announced that the catamaran would turn around. In the same moment the boat began to take on water and the passengers began to put on life vests. Ulate said people screamed as they fell into the water. Fire brigade chief Hector Chaves said the boat sank in a few minutes and probably lies on the floor of the sea 170 metres down. President Luis Guillermo Solis expressed condolences to friends and family of the victims in a message posted on Twitter. "This is a sad day for our country," he said. -- SPA 11:09 LOCAL TIME 08:09 GMT تغريد
