Skip to main content

Bridge of sighs

A frustrated commuter in the Chinese city of Guangzhou pushed a man off a bridge in an attempt to reduce a traffic delay. A man had been standing on the bridge and threatening to commit suicide, which held up traffic for five hours. Angered by the traffic delays and the huge congestion that had arisen, the commuter jostled his way past a police cordon and shoved the would-be suicide off the bridge. Luckily, police had placed an air cushion underneath and although the man fell 8m, he survived the incident wi
February 29, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A frustrated commuter in the Chinese city of Guangzhou pushed a man off a bridge in an attempt to reduce a traffic delay. A man had been standing on the bridge and threatening to commit suicide, which held up traffic for five hours. Angered by the traffic delays and the huge congestion that had arisen, the commuter jostled his way past a police cordon and shoved the would-be suicide off the bridge. Luckily, police had placed an air cushion underneath and although the man fell 8m, he survived the incident with wrist and back injuries. The commuter explained that the would-be suicide's actions were selfish and was against the public interest. The man had become depressed over debts arising from a failed building project. He was (at least) the 12th person to threaten suicide from the Haizu Bridge in Guangzhou but the first known to actually fall from the structure.

Related Content

  • Safer roads for UK?
    February 29, 2012
    A major campaign is commencing in the UK with the laudable aim of reducing road fatality rates.
  • Successful resurfacing at New York's JFK Airport
    May 3, 2012
    A huge logistics operation has been carried out successfully at New York's JFK Airport. One of the busiest runways at one of the world's busiest airports is now open to air traffic again, following a 120 day closure for resurfacing.
  • Coffee cup chaos
    May 26, 2016
    A driver in the UK recently escaped serious charges for affray. The man had been driving along the road when he threw two empty coffee cups from his vehicle as it was stalled in traffic. On seeing this, a pedestrian picked up the cups and placed them on the front of the car, while telling the driver in no uncertain terms that littering is an offence. The driver responded by jumping out of his seat and grabbing a baseball bat from the rear of his car, threatening the pedestrian while using similar language.
  • Priestly intervention
    May 24, 2013
    In Naples a hapless driver caused an unexpected delay when he attempted a u-turn in a narrow city street. The man managed to manoeuvre his car in such as way as to only be able to move forward and back a few centimetres at a time. Despite the small size of his Fiat 500, his bumbling meant the car blocked the road. Other vehicles soon began to queue on either side, hooting horns to show their displeasure at having to wait. Minutes later a group of Harley Davidson riders joined those waiting and were followed