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Yangtze is favourite suicide spot

Over 200 people tried to jump off China’s Nanjing Yangtze bridge last year, making it the preferred spot for Chinese to attempt suicide.

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BEIJING: Over 200 people tried to jump off China’s Nanjing Yangtze bridge last year, making it the preferred spot for Chinese to attempt suicide, police said on Wednesday.

“Fortunately, most of the people who tried to commit suicide were restrained by police, but still about 15 of them did manage to jump off and died,” an officer with Nanjing Railway Police said.

The officer refuted previous media reports that since 1968 nearly 2,000 people had ended their lives at the bridge in Nanjing, capital of eastern Jiangsu Province, but admitted the bridge has become a favourite suicide location.

Police records show that the number of people rescued or restrained at the bridge ranges from 100 to 200 per year, Xinhua news agency reported. The Nanjing bridge is the first bridge on the Yangtze River, China’s longest.

The construction of the 5,773-meter-long bridge was kicked off in 1960 and completed in 1969. The bridge was hailed as a major engineering feat of the People’s Republic of China for a long time.

Chen Jin, director of the Crisis Prevention Centre of Nanjing Neurosurgery Hospital, said Chinese who want to commit suicide often choose famous places such as scenic spots for their last moments.

Most people trying to jump off the bridge are unable to cope with unhappy love affairs, marital or financial problems. About 2,80,000 Chinese commit suicide every year, according to official estimates.

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