Mermaids — called “River Mumma” by locals—have long been a part of the discussion whenever there is a tragic accident at Flat Bridge in Bog Walk, St Catherine.
The bridge, reportedly built by enslaved people in the 1800s, has always been surrounded by mystery. Several persons have reported seeing the mermaids in its dark, murky waters.
Descriptions vary. Some say the mermaids have long, flowing black hair and an enchanting beauty, often surfacing briefly before vanishing beneath the water.
During a recent visit by Freedom Come Rain, some residents hesitated to discuss the presence of mermaids, their fear evident. One woman, upon being asked about the legend, looked up in panic and quickly scurried away, muttering, “Mi nuh know nutten ’bout Flat Bridge!”
Further up the road in Kent Village, Janet James* shared secondhand accounts of encounters with one particular River Mumma.
“I didn’t see her myself, but someone I know did—just as the bus was about to go around the bend, she glanced back and saw something dipping into the water.”
Many believe that mermaids reside in a bottomless hole beneath the bridge. Janet claims to have seen what appears to be an entrance to this mysterious void.
“It looks like a spinning wheel. The water just turns in circles. If you throw a ball in, it spins and spins until it disappears. It’s like a sinkhole,” she explained.
Beyond the mermaid sightings, Janet also spoke of eerie occurrences along the river, mentioning rumours of rituals and witchcraft.
“The river is always in need of blood,” she added ominously.
Strange Happenings and Unsettling Encounters
Despite the chilling stories, Janet admitted that she swam in the river as a child. However, a terrifying experience changed her perspective—when she saw a massive crocodile resting on a stone near the water.
“It was bigger than me in length,” she recalled, noting that she has never ventured into the river since.
Another unsettling moment left her shaken.
“I was walking nearby when I heard a huge splash, like someone had jumped in. But when I looked around, no one was there.”
While some attribute the frequent accidents at Flat Bridge to supernatural forces, Janet dismisses the idea that it’s because ‘duppies’ are demanding fresh blood. Instead, she believes reckless driving on the narrow bridge is the true cause.
A Pastor’s Chilling Testimony
Not everyone is so quick to dismiss supernatural explanations. In an interview on Zena Vlog TV, Pastor Margaret Lawrence shared her own chilling experience with representatives from the marine kingdom. Lawrence, who does not support the use of the toll road, urged drivers to take it, claiming that Flat Bridge was built on the sacrifice of ancestors—and that the river will always demand blood.
She recounted an eerie interaction with mermaids, who allegedly revealed their intentions to claim lives.
“The mermaids came to me and said they were going to overturn a bus at Flat Bridge. I asked how, and they told me they would confuse and dazzle the people.”
According to Lawrence, she was instructed to ask the then-Prime Minister of Jamaica for money to kill a cow and sprinkle the blood into the river as a sacrifice.
“I told them I couldn’t do that because they would laugh at me,” she admitted. Instead, she confided in a pastor.
Tragically, a bus did overturn into the river one Monday morning, killing many passengers. When Lawrence returned to the mermaids, they repeated their demand for a blood sacrifice. Eventually, a man provided a cow, which she killed at Flat Bridge. She sprinkled the blood on the bridge and threw some of the meat into the water.
“For five years straight, there were no accidents,” she claimed.
“The maid them deh all over Jamaica, all over the world. People must not think is them alone on earth,” she said.
She claimed that the younger mermaids, especially, often complain about the noise from the traffic coming through flat bridge. She shared that the first time she saw a mermaid was in the 1980’s in Spring Village. She often brings food to give the mermaids at Flat Bridge, although she said they are not able to eat.
The pastor, whose head was wrapped with a turbine, stressed that there is good and evil and there is light and darkness, and a lot of things lurk in the dark. Proclaiming that she speaks to the dead, she proceeded to share some of the revelations she has gotten through her interactions with ancestors.
Legend or Reality?
The mysteries surrounding Flat Bridge continue to intrigue—and unsettle—those who pass through. Some dismiss the stories as superstition, while others remain convinced that something beyond human understanding hovers beneath the surface. One thing is certain: the mention of Flat Bridge often incites fear and there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
Photos by Romario Mitchell
