Life of Jamaica employees and customers in the company’s car park in New Kingston yesterday after they vacated the building when someone called to say that a bomb was planted in the insurance company. However, no explosive device was found by officers from the police bomb squad, after a search of the premises.

The police reported that a telephone operator at the First Global Bank, which is located on the ground floor of the complex, received a call informing her that a bomb was in the building.

“We were in the building when the alarm sounded and we rushed out quickly. At one point it was like a stampede, but thankfully no one was hurt,” a staff member told the Observer.

Another employee said the presence of a man “dressed like a Muslim” in the bank triggered more fears. “He knelt and prayed while he was in the bank and that caused some people to start thinking that the bomb threat was real,” the employee said.

Head of marketing at Life Of Jamaica, Michael Fraser, who was among those gathered in the LOJ parking lot, said the bomb scare was the work of idlers. “It’s the work of a prankster, someone who is idle and doesn’t have anything to do,” Fraser said.

The bomb scare resulted in traffic cops diverting traffic from nearby roads, causing a pile-up of traffic on Grenada Crescent and Knutsford Boulevard.

(Photo: Michael Gordon)