By John McPhaul
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - The death toll from a strong earthquake in Costa Rica rose to 13 on Friday and officials feared more bodies would be found in the rubble of a major landslide near a popular tourist site.
Ten victims were buried when Thursday's quake triggered a landslide at the scenic La Paz waterfall on the flanks of the Poas Volcano, Red Cross spokesman Luis Guzman said. It was not clear if the dead included foreigners.
Some 300 stranded tourists and 100 or so Costa Ricans had to spend the night in the valley after the quake tore apart a road leading down to the waterfall. Rescue helicopters began ferrying them back to San Jose on Friday morning.
The 6.1-magnitude quake devastated the Poas Volcano national park north of the capital San Jose, setting off landslides and damaging roads around the epicentre.
Costa Rica is a popular tourist destination due to its lush natural parks, volcanoes and rich wildlife, but is prone like the rest of Central America to natural disasters.
Three youths were reported dead on Thursday: a teenager and two girls selling candy in the park.
Costa Rican media said more people were believed to be trapped in collapsed or crushed houses in villages in the northeast, and dozens could be injured.
Aerial television images showed people trapped in the valley by the La Paz waterfall keeping warm around bonfires and waving for help. The images also showed buses tipped on their side after the road collapsed.
"There are many buses and many vehicles that are trapped," said deputy public safety minister Jose Torres.
The government was scrambling to hire private helicopters to bring aid to the region. Costa Rica has no army and so lacks a fleet of military helicopters to help in natural disasters.
Torres said the United States was sending two helicopters in from El Salvador.
Some 1,200 people evacuated from affected communities were in shelters.
(Editing by Doina Chiacu)
