UPDATE: Second Grand Bahia worker killed near hotel identified
ST ANN, Jamaica – The employee of the Grand Bahia Principe Hotel in Runaway Bay, St Ann who was killed in a hit-and-run in the vicinity of the hotel this morning has been identified.
He is 40-year-old bartender Franz Johnson of Farm Heights, Montego Bay, St James.
Police reports are that the incident happened about 8:20 am.
Information reaching OBSERVER ONLINE is that Johnson was walking along the side of the road towards the hotel when he was hit by a grey Toyota Allion.
He was taken to hospital where he was ptonounced dead.
READ: Grand Bahia Principe employee killed in hit-and-run near hotel
Johnson is the second employee of the hotel to pass away in the same vicinity in the last three days.
On Saturday, 25-year-old chef Omaine Brown of Santa Maria Drive Hopewell District in St Ann died from injuries he sustained from a crash in the same vicinity.
The manager for External Relations at the Grand Bahia Principe Hotel, Fabian Brown, said both incidents are beyond unfortunate.
“So we’ve had two very unfortunate situations, to say it’s unfortunate is really an understatement. On the weekend, we had a motor vehicle accident in the vicinity of the hotel and this morning unfortunately, we had another accident, this one was a hit-and-run, but in both cases, members of staff [were] involved… Naturally you would appreciate the gloom and the challenge and the stress that has overcome the entire team that we have, they are doing their best right now to weather the storm as it were,” he said.
Brown underscored that counselling is taking place, while the families of the employees have also been contacted.
“Our Human Resource department is working assiduously in terms of counselling and support to assist in very very challenging and trying times, you would appreciate that to have any of your colleagues being impacted is in itself a challenge let alone a situation where you understand that there is a fatality involved,” he noted.