Man commits suicide after killing family

A 35-year-old man surnamed Bai jumped to his death from the sixth floor of his apartment building after killing five family members in East China's Shandong province, local police said Sunday. The man was suspected of suffering from depression.

The man died in a residential area of Jinan at about 5 pm on Friday, according to a police notice issued online Sunday. Five bodies, including those of an elderly couple, two children and a woman in her 30s, were found in Bai's apartment.

A preliminary police investigation found Bai set fire to the apartment after killing his family. He then jumped off the building to commit suicide. Further investigation is underway.

A neighbor, surnamed Chen, told a reporter from Haibao news website that Bai's wife had been out in the morning but returned home with the children at about noon, then the elderly couple came to see the children. Chen heard from someone that Bai had called his wife to  come back home.  

Chen added that Bai's family life was happy and he had never heard they had problems.

Before the incident, Bai had frequently searched the internet for information about depression treatment. Many medications for psychiatric diseases were in his desk drawer. Bai also wrote notes revealing excessively pessimistic views about life and deep concern about his family's future.

The tragedy rekindled public concern over relatively poor access to mental health services in the country.

According to the World Health Organization, there are about 350 million people worldwide suffering from mental illnesses that contribute to millions of suicide deaths every year. 

In China, more than 170 million people have mental illness, yet estimates show that only about 20 million receive medical intervention. There are about two psychiatrists to serve every 100,000 people, which cannot keep up with the massive need for mental health care, statistics from health authorities showed.

Even worse, many Chinese suffering from mental illness don't openly seeking help from family or doctors out of shame or ignorance, experts said.

Meng Die contributed to the story.