Spectators Gather to Watch Woman&#039s Suicide Attempt

Spectators Gather to Watch Woman&#039s Suicide Attempt
9/23/2005
Updated:
9/23/2005

TAIPEI - On Sept. 17, a woman attempted suicide by threatening to jump from a tall building in Shenyang. During her six hours of refusing the lifeguards' rescue efforts, more than a thousand people gathered on the street to watch the incident.

The report from the Shenyang Chinese Business Morning added that traffic was completely blocked. Drivers were slowing their cars to watch, bike riders hopped off their bikes and locked them on the sidewalk, and walkers came to a stop.

Someone was reportedly selling telescopes to allow the onlookers to zoom in on the scene far above their heads.

The report said that some people brought chairs from their homes to sit on the sidewalk more comfortably. At lunch hour, many skipped their meal in order to keep watching. As one lady in her 50s said, “I'd rather starve and suffer. If I go home, I am afraid I will miss her jumping from the building, and that would be a pity.” Others rushed home to grab mineral water and biscuits, and then returned to the scene.

The woman was rescued by two firefighters six hours later. The surrounding crowds dispersed shortly thereafter, and street traffic resumed.