Adults-Only Resort in Jamaica Ordered Closed After Employee Killed in Explosion

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Friday April 21, 2017 – A luxury resort in the popular tourist area of Montego Bay is closed for the time being, as an investigation is carried out to determine what caused a blast that claimed the life of an employee and left four others injured.
The explosion occurred in the boiler room of Hotel RIU Reggae just before 3:30 p.m. yesterday. Five members of the maintenance team were in the room at the time. Maintenance Manager Seduro McIntosh was killed and the other four were injured.
Hundreds of guests were evacuated from the adults-only property that officially opened in November last year.
Public relations officer for the Jamaica Fire Brigade Emilio Ebanks had initially indicated that there was no reason to recommend any closure, as further danger had been averted.
However, he reported today that after further assessment of the situation, a decision had been taken to suspend operations at the hotel as fire officials conduct their investigation.
Guests at the five-star hotel have been relocated to other RIU properties in Jamaica.