China bridge jumper 'gets a push'

Burnsy2023 · 23 May 2009 at 11:21

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8064867.stm

Mr Lai is said to have then broken through the police cordon, climbed to where Mr Chen sat, greeted him with a handshake - and then pushed him off the edge.

Not quite sure what to say here. Am I supposed to be shocked or laugh?

Indy500 · 23 May 2009 at 11:22

He told police he wanted to kill himself because he was 2m yuan ($293,000 or £184,000) in debt following a failed construction project, the China Daily reported.

Traffic around the bridge was stopped for five hours while officers tried to coax Mr Chen to safety.

Retired soldier Mr Lai at first volunteered to try to talk Mr Chen down but was turned away by police, Xinhua said.

Mr Lai is said to have then broken through the police cordon, climbed to where Mr Chen sat, greeted him with a handshake - and then pushed him off the edge.

Pictures in the China Daily show him saluting to the crowd after Mr Chen fell on to the partially filled emergency air cushion.

"I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish," the newspaper quoted Mr Lai as saying.

There's your answer. Always more to it than appears on the surface.

deuse · 23 May 2009 at 11:24

Burnsy2023 said:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8064867.stm

Not quite sure what to say here. Am I supposed to be shocked or laugh?

I hope someone has a vid and puts it on youtube

me227 · 23 May 2009 at 11:28

He was only going to jump 8 metres? How would that do anything? Sounds a bit small.

Vonhelmet · 23 May 2009 at 11:30

Charge the guy with assisting suicide or even attempted murder.

Van Hellseek · 23 May 2009 at 11:31

me227 said:
He was only going to jump 8 metres?

Into traffic.

floatindolphin · 23 May 2009 at 11:31

1/2 kill himself then finish the job later?

BlackDragon · 23 May 2009 at 11:32

vonhelmet said:
Charge the guy with assisting suicide or even attempted murder.

And then reward him for freeing up the traffic.

Burnsy2023 · 23 May 2009 at 11:33

vonhelmet said:
Charge the guy with assisting suicide or even attempted murder.

It wouldn't be attempted murder as he knew there was an crash mat at the bottom so he had no intention to kill.

GreatAuk · 23 May 2009 at 11:37

Good for Mr Lai! If the guy wasn't going to jump, then he shouldn't have been there, and holding up all the traffic by dilly-dallying is quite selfish.

me227 · 23 May 2009 at 11:38

seek said:
Into traffic.

The traffic was stopped.

Morgoth · 23 May 2009 at 11:40

The bridge has gained a macabre reputation, attracting at least 12 would-be suicide jumpers since the start of April, according to the China Daily report. None of the 12 has jumped...

Pff, the Chinese are clearly doing it wrong.

elroberto · 23 May 2009 at 11:51

Should have handcuffed himself to the guy and jumped off together like Lethal Weapon...cool.

floatindolphin · 23 May 2009 at 11:55

elroberto said:
Should have handcuffed himself to the guy and jumped off together like Lethal Weapon...cool.

was just about to post this!

SexyGreyFox · 23 May 2009 at 11:59

deuse said:
I hope someone has a vid and puts it on youtube

It would be a bit boring.
A bloke pushes another bloke onto an air filled mat from a height 2 foot more than the width of a football goal.

semi-pro waster · 23 May 2009 at 12:15

Burnsy2023 said:
It wouldn't be attempted murder as he knew there was an crash mat at the bottom so he had no intention to kill.

Chances are good that he did since he offered to talk the guy down but it doesn't confirm that he knew of the air cushion in the story.

The story is a bit confusing, if he was able to shake the would-be jumpers hand then why not just hold onto him and let the police grab him up on the bridge?

ManOfTheYear · 23 May 2009 at 12:33

vonhelmet said:
Charge the guy with assisting suicide or even attempted murder.

Who did he kill????

Tefal · 23 May 2009 at 12:38

semi-pro waster said:
Chances are good that he did since he offered to talk the guy down but it doesn't confirm that he knew of the air cushion in the story.

A huge air cushion isn't exactly hard to notice.

semi-pro waster · 23 May 2009 at 12:42

ManOfTheYear said:
Who did he kill????

No-one, that's the point of using "attempted", it implies he did not succeed although if the man really desired to kill himself anyway then you'd only be charging Mr Lai with murder because he interrrupted the suicide attempt. Intentions count in law so even if the result is not as you intented the intention can be enough to convict you.

Tefal said:
A huge air cushion isn't exactly hard to notice.

It might be if you're approaching from the top and can't see through tarmac but it's a fairly minor point, I was just noting that there was no confirmation of his awareness or intentions.

Tefal · 23 May 2009 at 12:43

semi-pro waster said:
It might be if you're approaching from the top and can't see through tarmac but it's a fairly minor point, I was just noting that there was no confirmation of his awareness or intentions.

He pushed him 8m down on to the road not over the edge.

The cushion would have been really obvious when you're standing right over it.