875 attempted suicide from Han River bridges over 5 years

By Yi Whan-woo

A total of 875 people attempted to kill themselves from Han River bridges in Seoul between January 2008 and August this year, data showed Monday.

Among the total number of people who jumped off the capital’s 24 bridges, 408 of them died, evidence of the country’s highest global suicide rate.

The data released by Rep. Kang Ki-youn of the ruling Saenuri Party was compiled by Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters and the National Emergency Management Agency.

An official said the real number of such suicide attempts is likely to be higher than 875, because the figure did not include cases reported to police.

“While most of the calls were received by us through 119 fire and rescue call centers, a number of other calls were made to 112 crime report centers operated by police,” said Lee Jun-seo, a manager at the rescue planning team of the fire and disaster headquarters.

“The number of people who tried to take their own lives from those bridges could rise to around 930 if we include the cases reported to police,” he added.

The highest number was 210 in 2009, compared with 196 in 2011, 193 in 2010 and 165 in 2008.

Mapo Bridge that connects the financial and political district of Yeouido to Mapo had the highest rate of suicide attempts with 85 people or 9.7 percent.

The Hangang Grand Bridge between Yongsan and Dongjak had the second highest number of suicide attempts, with 71 people jumping from the bridge.

The total rescue rate accounted for only 53.4 percent. Rescue workers managed to save 72 people in 2008, 102 in 2009, 87 in 2010, 95 in 2011, and 52 as of August this year.

The municipal government has come up with preventive measures by installing four emergency phone boxes alongside the bridge in September under the project titled “Bridge of Life.”

The city authorities also installed a sensor system that detects movement of the passers-by and shows up positive messages on electronic boards.

“The government should set up surveillance cameras on every bridge to increase regular monitoring and conduct patrols more often,” Kang said.

The country has a notoriously high suicide rate. An average of 33.5 people per 100,000 took their own lives in 2010, which was 2.6 times higher than the average for member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to government data.