Beijing - A Chinese man was pushed off a bridge by an angry passer-by after his threat to commit suicide held up traffic for five hours, Chinese media reported yesterday.
Retired soldier Lai Jiansheng, 66, broke through a police cordon and reached out to shake the hand of would-be jumper Chen Fuchao, before shoving him off the Haizhu bridge in Guangzhou, Guangdong province on Thursday.
Mr Lai made the shocking move after police turned down his offer to persuade Mr Chen to come down, said reports.
'I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish. Their action violates a lot of public interests,' Mr Lai was quoted as saying by the China Daily newspaper. 'They do not really dare to kill themselves. Instead, they just want to raise the relevant government authorities' attention to their appeals.'
Mr Chen was threatening to commit suicide because of a two million yuan (S$422,700) debt he incurred over a failed construction project, said media reports.
Mr Lai reportedly claimed he was confident that Mr Chen would land on the emergency air cushion police had placed under the bridge.
Photos published in the Chinese media showed Mr Lai, shoeless and in a T-shirt, saluting after Mr Chen fell. Mr Chen fell 8m onto the emergency air cushion but sustained wrist and back injuries because it was only partially inflated.
The Beijing Morning Post said Mr Lai - who was reportedly apologetic after realising the harm he had caused Mr Chen - was released on bail on Friday. Both men could face charges, said reports.
The paper said Mr Lai had been on medication for 'a mental illness' for decades and was on his way to a hospital for his pills when he witnessed the suicide attempt.
Mr Chen was at least the 12th person since early April to threaten suicide at the Haizhu bridge. Each time, traffic over the bridge was jammed for hours as police officers sought to talk the people out of ending their lives. But none jumped and - until Mr Lai gave Mr Chen a helping hand - none were pushed.
