Dudley Rhone and two other males occupants of a Daihatsu truck he was driving yesterday were hailed as the three luckiest men alive after they survived when the truck plunged down a steep precipice on the Mocho main road in Clarendon.

"They are extremely lucky to be alive, given the distance the truck plunged ... from my estimation, the truck plunged some 75 feet into the precipice, and if it wasn't for some trees, the truck would have drop further down," Clarendon Fire Brigade Deputy Superintendent, Orrett Barnswell, reasoned.

"Two of the occupants were pulled from the truck, however, we have to extricate the driver from the unit and rushed him to the May Pen Hospital."

Brake failure

Barnswell, unable to say what may have cause the accident, that knocked out the JPS's infrastructure in the area and caused a traffic pile-up, suggested the most likely cause were probably brake failure or the driver may have lost control of the truck while negotiating the corner.

Onlookers, who were quick on the scene, also expressed amazement at the near death the three men experienced when the truck, laden with lumber, tore through the stone-retaining wall before plunging down the precipice.

"Them lucky eeh man, them could a dead. Them better go sleep same place them sleep last night, because God a save them," a female bystander said.

Police were also unable to say what may have caused the accident. Sergeant Deare Powell, sub-oficer in charge of the Mocho Police Station, said the occupants are in stable condition. He warned drivers to take extra precautions on the road reasoning that the accident could have been another fatal one.