SAN JOSE - Three people died after a tourist catamaran carrying around 100 passengers sank off Costa Rica's Pacific Coast on Thursday morning, the government said.

The catamaran sank off the Punta Leona beach resort after emitting a distress signal, public security ministry spokesman Jesus Urena said. The cause of the accident was not yet known.

Costa Rica has been experiencing exceptionally strong winds this week, according to the National Meteorological Institute.

Costa Rican Vice President Ana Helena Chacon identified the dead as a 68-year-old woman from the United States, a Canadian woman aged 70 and an 80-year-old British man.

Four passengers who had been missing were found and the other 106 people on the boat, including the crew of 10, all survived and were in good health, Chacon added.