Holidaymakers in Jamaica who witnessed the incident have told of how they thought they were going to die during the bizarre “drug-induced” meltdown of two Brits from Essex
Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Two British tourists who suffered a paranoid meltdown after smoking weed on a Bob Marley tour in Jamaica allegedly tried to grab the handbrake of a moving coach and leap from the vehicle.
Holidaymakers who witnessed the incident have told of how they thought they were going to die during the bizarre ruckus, which reportedly saw the mum and daughter lunge for the drive while on a bus trip during their TUI holiday to the Caribbean.
The duo, who hailed from Essex, were said to have been smoking weed and eating rum cake prior to boarding the bus back to their hotel, in Montego Bay.
Witnesses told the SunOnline that the pair became agitated to the point that they began to scream about being “kidnapped”.
Adding fuel to the flames, the mum and daughter posted on social media during the meltdown, falsely alleging they were being “sex trafficked”.
The posts caught the attention of their followers and spread like wildfire on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
The daughter has since cleared up the “misunderstanding” with a post on Instagram stating the family is safe.
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The episode was reportedly triggered by weed, which prompted the pair to become frantic and paranoid as the busload of British tourists were being ferried past Dunns Falls and Bob Marley’s house on the sun-soaked island.
They attempted to grapple with the driver and pull the handbrake of the coach before leaping from the moving vehicle.
The bus driver was later hailed as a “hero” by the family’s fellow tourists for keeping his cool during the 90-minute trip and getting most passengers to their destinations.
The mum allegedly started to claim there was a plot to “kidnap” her and her daughter after the pair allegedly smoked a joint at the Bob Marley Museum at Nine Mile, the tour’s final stop.
Chaos ensued, as the bus tried to navigate the winding trip back to Montenegro bay while the pair became increasingly erratic, and eventually convinced themselves other tourists on the bus were involved in the “plot”.
One passenger, Darrell Smith the Sun Online that he had turned to his wife Jemma to say “I love you”, as he thought it might be “the last time [he] got to say it”.
Darrell and Jemma had a “fantastic day” with the tour group as they explored the countryside, Darrell said, but things had changed dramatically when they got back to the bus after visiting Nine Mile.
The women became increasingly delusional and tried to force open the bus doors as it was still moving, he said, traveling at speeds of up to 60mph.
Other passengers were forced to restrain the mum as she started screaming “stop the bus”, he said, while he grabbed the daughter as she jumped over the front seats and pulled up the handbrake.
At one point, the mum opened the bus window and tried to leap out, but she instead bumped her head, causing a bloody gash to appear on her eye.
Darrell suggested the weed had “triggered something”, while his wife Jemma said she thought she was “going to die”.
Jemma was now concerned about the story of kidnap still being out there on the internet – despite the fact, none of it had happened.
The step mum and her daughter had reportedly been traveling with other members of their family, who were said to have tried to calm them down.
Another passenger said it was “wrong that info like this gives Jamaica and their hotel a bad name when they did nothing but try to keep them safe”.
Another Brit tourist, who was staying at the same hotel as the family, said: “They had some weed and rum cake and lost the plot.”
The family have since returned to the UK, as travel company TUI is reportedly investigating the incident.
A spokesman said: “We take reports of this nature seriously and have been in continued contact with the family and will continue to offer our full support.”
The Mirror has contacted the company for further comment.
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