FIVE TOURISTS suffering from hypothermia, and other problems were rescued from the top of Volcan Baru in Chiriqui province on Sunday afternoon, May 27, by a National Civil Protection System (Sinaproc) emergency team.

The news was released by Sinaproc director, José Donderis, who earlier in the day had called for responsibility and respect from citizens when alerts were issued by Sinaproc. The agency had issued a heavy rain warning 48 hours earlier and Donderis had complained that “trained” guides in the region had ignored the notice, putting lives of  tourists and the rescue team at risk,

Donderis said that tourists had been taken to a climate-controlled safe place, for evaluation before making their descent with the rescue team. The tourists were stable he said.