Landslides Claim At Least 20 Lives in Online Gambling Haven Of Costa Rica
20 people are confirmed dead and another 10 are missing in landslides that occurred in Escazu, Costa Rica Thursday. Escazu is home to the majority of online gambling company owners and their executives.
The exact location of the landslide was at Pico Blanco above San Antonio de Escazú, a mountainside suburb west of San José.
The Tico Times reports that early Thursday morning, Costa Rica’s central government decreed a red alert – the highest of the country’s three alert levels – for the whole country and declared a national emergency.
Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla said that the country’s emergency funds were “sufficient” for now but there might be time to ask for aid from other countries.
Chinchilla said that the environs of Pico Blanco “have been considered risky zones and highly vulnerable to disaster for a long time.”
Landslides have been reported throughout the country.
She said the downpour was likely to continue into Friday.
"The important thing now is to be thinking of the victims' families," she told a news conference.
Costa Rica’s executive branch declared Friday and Saturday as days of national mourning in light of the natural disaster.
Escazu is among the wealthiest regions in all of Costa Rica and home to a large majority of American and Canadian expats.
- Gambling911.com Staff
