232 suicide attempts in Han River in 1st half

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Staff reporter

A total of 232 people attempted suicide in Seoul's Han River in the first half of the year, but preventative measures are still pending due to budget issues.

According to Seoul City Monday, 166 people jumped from bridges over the Han River and 66 people entered the water from its banks in the six months up to June. Of them, 47 were found dead.

There have been more than 1,300 suicide attempts in the Han River since 2007 and 254 were fatal.

Last September, the city's Fire and Disaster Headquarters pledged to reinforce safety measures along the river to prevent people from attempting suicide on the bridges with a 13 billion won budget by the end of the year. But the plan has been suspended as it has not received a green light from the city government.

Other measures included installing nearly 100 surveillance cameras on eight bridges and raising the balustrades to 2 meters. Establishing a rescue team near Banpo Bridge has also been put on hold.

The plan went through major reappraisal at the city's investment deliberation committee earlier this year and was scaled down. The watered-down version will receive approval from the committee later this month.

Under the new plan, the city will push for other cost-saving projects such as installing emergency phones on bridges connected to guard posts.

The city's disaster division said it will push for more surveillance cameras and higher safety railings later, in the light of the reduced budget.