ST JAMES, Jamaica — A member of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) escaped serious injury after he managed to jump from a jeep as it plunged into the sea along the Jimmy Cliff Boulevard in Montego Bay late this morning.

No one was seriously hurt in the freak accident.

According to one person who claimed to be an eyewitness, the soldier was driving the jeep towards the Sangster International Airport when, shortly after passing the Old Hospital Park, he apparently turned left to avoid an accident and lost control of the vehicle.

The army man managed to leap from the moving vehicle, which reportedly mowed down a small barrier before plunging into the sea.

The soldier was later escorted from the scene by his colleagues.

“It could be a lot worse. There was no visible injury, but one can’t be certain because the area at the edge of the sea where he bailed out of the jeep is rocky. The vehicle went into the sea but before it hit the water it took out a brace pole,” a patron who was leaving a nearby restaurant when the accident happened told OBSERVER ONLINE.

Horace Hines