The Panamanian Tourism Authority (ATP, its initials in Spanish) announced this week they are considering reactivating a medical insurance option offered for free to visitors to the Central American country, said the government entity.

The consideration to reopen the program comes in the wake of the killing of a taxi driver Tuesday, March 14 in the early morning hours in which two Canadians were injured, said a press statement on the ATP website. No further details on the attack or the victims was made public.

According to the statement, “Gustavo Him, ATP director, laments that at dawn on Tuesday on the Panama-Colón highway, near the town of Quebrada López, a tourist taxi driver was killed and one of the two Canadian tourists was injured; and both were stripped of their belongings.”

“We are doing an investigation so that this does not happen again, because one of the things we have to guarantee in terms of tourism is the safety of those who choose Panama as a tourist destination,” said Him.

The free insurance program for visitors was launched for the first time under the Martinelli administration in 2011.

When the program was due to lapse in 2014, a 6-month extension of the program was requested and granted, but eventually discontinued due to high costs, said the tourism agency.

Him added that consultations are being held with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to activate a free medical insurance policy to covers tourists and foreigners entering the country through the Tocumen International Airport.

He added that the tourist authority already has a proposal to reinstate this insurance program that will present to the ministry so that this benefit can be offered as soon as possible.