Man jumps to death from Hong Kong building housing Asia headquarters of JP Morgan

HONG KONG (AFP) - A 33-year-old man plunged to his death on Tuesday from the roof of a 30-storey building in Hong Kong's financial district that houses the Asia headquarters of banking giant JP Morgan.

"At around 2pm... a man fell from the rooftop of the building. Police arrived and saw him unconscious. He was sent to the hospital where he was certified dead," a police spokeswoman told AFP.

Several policemen had scrambled to the roof of Chater House in the skyscraper-packed district in a bid to convince the man, surnamed Li, not to jump but failed, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

The Apple Daily posted pictures on its website of the man in a dark-coloured outfit, apparently standing at the edge of the roof.

The SCMP identified the man as a forex trader with JP Morgan but a company spokeswoman refused to confirm whether he was an employee.

"We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident in Chater House and the case is being investigated by the police. Our sympathies are with the family of the deceased person," she told AFP.

Several banking giants have set up their headquarters in the southern Chinese city of seven million which promotes itself as the business gateway to the world's second-largest economy.

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