The Editor, Sir:

Whoever said lightning does not strike twice in the same place should think again. Having just read Hartley Neita's book, The Search, the saga of five Jamaica College boys, who got lost in the Blue Mountains some 70 years ago, earlier this week I heard the news that an aircraft, bearing two men, had crashed near the peak and a search was on for them.

I had a sense of déjà vu when I read the media reports. Neita's recollection of how the JC boys fared, as they trekked across the challenging Blue Mountains, made me connect with those men who were lost in the hills.

Some similarity

I could not help thinking of the similarity of the two scenarios. The media reported how soldiers, policemen and residents of Portland, searched the forests to find the men, just as was the case with the JC boys.

From Neita's account, we know that if helicopters were not yet invented, the men, who went down with the helicopter, would be in the mountains for days to come.

Congratulations to the Jamaica Defence Force and all who went searching for them. In spite of the mayhem that gunmen are wreaking in our country, I am comforted with the thought that we still are a kind and caring people.

I am, etc.,

BERL FRANCIS

berlbfran@gmail.com