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

  • A history lesson in private public partnerships
    April 12, 2012
    Michel Démarre gives some historical insights into public-private partnerships conceived to implement urban infrastructure projects, a concept that surprisingly dates back to as early as the 13th century! All over the world today, the role of public authorities in the process of planning and, in most cases, designing, financing and procuring urban roads is paramount. Even for modifications to existing roads, decisions are made by these public authorities (usually after due consultation with the population)
  • Divine intervention?
    February 24, 2012
    An American man rammed his vehicle into a car being driven by a woman and later claimed he had done so under express instructions from God. The man crashed his pick-up truck into the woman's car while he was travelling at over 160km/h. His vehicle hit the rear of the car and both vehicles spun across a median then came to a stop along a barrier in the opposite lanes. Luckily the drivers suffered only minor injuries and police commented that this could have been a sign of divine intervention given the high s
  • PPRS Nice 2018: maintenance moves mountains
    June 22, 2018
    Strategic maintenance was a major theme at the second Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit in Nice, France. The world is changing, mobility is changing and so roads must change and adapt for the future.” With this brief statement, Jacques Tavernier opened the second PPRS Summit. “At the same time there is a growing awareness of poor or non-existent maintenance for highways. The question for this conference is how to adapt road maintenance in the face of this challenge,” said Tavernier, in his role as
  • Crash and crash again
    February 22, 2012
    Police did not have to travel far when catching one drink driver who crashed his vehicle in the UK.