Would-be jumper gets 'helping' hand

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-23 10:23

GUANGZHOU: A bridge that has gained a reputation as a macabre tourist destination after attracting at least 12 would-be suicide jumpers since the start of April was the scene of a bizare incident this week in which a passerby pushed a man who was threatening to jump.

A man named Chen Fuchao who threatened to kill himself on Thursday is pushed off Haizhu Bridge by a 66-year-old person,Lai Jiansheng in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong province, May 22, 2009. [CFP]

The passerby was agitated by the fact that the would-be jumper had held up traffic around Haizhu Bridge for almost five hours.

None of the 12 who threatened to jump has done so, although each has held up traffic for several hours.

In the latest case, a man named Chen Fuchao threatened to kill himself on Thursday after saying he was in 2 million yuan of debt following a failed construction project.

After being pushed off the bridge, Chen fell 8 m onto a partially-inflated emergency air cushion. The 66-year-old person who pushed him, Lai Jiansheng, had broken through a police cordon and climbed up to where Chen sat.

He greeted him with a handshake before pushing him off the bridge.

Chen damaged his spine and elbow in the fall.

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