OCHO RIOS, St Ann — A major investor in the island’s tourism industry, Richard Salm, died in a motor vehicle crash Wednesday afternoon in this northern parish, where he started Royal Decameron Resort at Runaway Bay.

Reports from the St Ann police are that sometime after 3:00 pm Salm was heading towards Salem when he made a u-turn along a section of the Llandovery Highway and a vehicle that was travelling in the opposite direction collided with his Suzuki Vitara.

A civilian, who arrived at the scene shortly after the collision, Corrine Smith, said persons waited a protracted period of time for fire personnel to reach the scene to remove Salm from his badly damaged vehicle.

A video showed that once on location, firefighters appeared to lack the necessary tools to pry the vehicle door open to remove Salm.

A motorist eventually took charge of the scene.

“He had to take over because he was the one who had something that could help; he had a little chisel, a hammer and a piece of pipe iron that they used to open the door [to remove Salm],” Smith told the Jamaica Observer. “The firefighters came un-equipped. They didn’t have any tool to use. They were called to the scene of an accident and they came unprepared.”

Smith also stated that Salm had blood on his face as it seemed he suffered a minor laceration as well as a concussion.

“His eyes were wide open, but he was unresponsive for a short while. Somebody called his name three times and he replied [after] the third time,” she added.

Salm was removed from the wrecked vehicle at the end of an almost one-hour effort. He was placed on a stretcher and taken to hospital in the back of a van.

This is not the hotelier’s first traffic mishap. In the 1960s, he broke a leg during a motor vehicle crash in France. Salm emigrated to Jamaica at age 26, and went on to become a naturalised citizen. His wife is Jamaican.

Since making Jamaica his home, Salm, who studied law at Cambridge University, contributed significantly to the island, especially in the field of tourism. He is mainly known for co-founding Royal Decameron Club Caribbean resort.

He is also known for acquiring Drax Hall Estate in St Ann in 1988, and donating 30 acres of that property to the St Ann Municipal Corporation. That property is now home to the community sports complex at Drax Hall.

Salm also played a pivotal role in establishing the Jamaica Ski Federation.

He, along with his wife, also founded Glen Preparatory School in St Ann.

In 2019, Salm was awarded the Order of Distinction in the Rank of Commander (CD) for service to Tourism, Winter Sports Promotion and Community Development.

Among those jolted by the well-known hotelier’s death was Mayor of St Ann Sydney Stewart, who yesterday expressed condolences to the Salm family on behalf of the St Ann Municipal Corporation.

“Mr Salm is one of the pioneers of St Ann who have invested to build the parish. He was one of the great developers in the parish so the municipality of St Ann is mourning with his family at this time,” Stewart told the Jamaica Observer. “He and his family will always be remembered by the people of St Ann because he was a very kind person and had no resistance [to] investing in the development of the country.”

Also mourning were Senior Superintendent of the Parish, Dwight Powell and his team members.

“We express sincere condolences on behalf of the police department. Mr Salm’s death is a very tragic loss for the entire parish. He contributed a lot to tourism and to St Ann’s development in particular,” he said

St Ann has recorded 18 road fatalities since the start of the year in comparison to 15 for the corresponding period last year.

— Additional reporting by Akera Davis