Storm Otto kills nine in Costa Rica, moves out to Pacific

Men walk in area damaged by a landside after Hurricane Otto hit in Guayabo de Bagaces, Costa Rica, November 25, 2016. REUTERS/ Juan Carlos Ulate

SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Tropical storm Otto killed at least nine people and forced thousands to evacuate when it battered Nicaragua and Costa Rica with hurricane-force winds and torrential rains, before moving out into the Pacific Ocean.

Otto smashed into southeastern Nicaragua on Thursday as a category 2 hurricane, but weakened rapidly and became a tropical storm by early Friday as it drifted deeper into the Pacific, the U.S. National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said.