Approximately 20,000 Chinese laborers worked on the railway and it is said that more Chinese corpses line its course than wooden sleepers.
總數估計約二萬人的華工，因不堪種種虐待，更爆發了駭人聽聞的「憂鬱症」：成百的華工不明原因地集體自殺，有的用長辮子在樹上自縊，有的用利器刺穿自己… …，景像之慘烈，嚇得鐵路公司立刻把殘存的華工遣往牙買加，以遏阻這種自殺怪病蔓延。