The Ministry of Tourism, Entertainment and Culture, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB), and the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) have condemned Wednesday's assault by armed men on 17 cruise ship visitors at Lethe Estates in Hanover.

"The tourism authorities are fully aware of the unfortunate incident and have taken all possible measures to offer comfort and assistance to the affected guests who were unharmed during the incident," a statement issued by the Tourism Ministry late Wednesday read.

"We were informed by (the) owner and operator of the plantation tour that the police were on the scene within 30 minutes and took statements from the families."

The ministry said Montego Bay-based tourism personnel acted with alacrity and visited the Lethe property and spoke with all 17 guests "who were comforted by our presence".

Local response

According to the statement, tourism officials, alongside the tour operator and the police accompanied the visitors back to the cruise terminal where the shorex (shore excursion) manager expressed satisfaction with the local response to the matter.

"The Ministry of Tourism, Entertainment and Culture, JTB and the JHTA condemn the unscrupulous act as it undermines our efforts to help develop a prosperous economy for all Jamaicans," the statement read.

Meanwhile, the police reported yesterday morning that one of the two men involved in the robbery had been shot dead Wednesday night. At that time the search remained under way for the second robber.