Suicide attempt paralyzes traffic on Istanbul bridge

ISTANBUL

DHA photo

A traffic jam paralyzed Istanbul morning traffic as a suicide was attempted on the 105-meter-high Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge over the Bosphorus on April 11. Road maintenance work also contributed to the traffic jam. 

People saw an unidentified man over the guardrails of the bridge and notified authorities around 7:15 a.m. on April 11. Police teams and ambulances were immediately dispatched to the scene.

The man, identified only by the initials H.K., was talked out of suicide after three hours of negotiations and was taken to a police department in Istanbul’s Armutlu district. 

Meanwhile, chief editor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s Traffic Radio, Murat Kazanasmaz, claimed in a tweet that this was H.K. second suicide attempt in three days.

“We have learned that the citizen who attempted to commit suicide at FSM [Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge] this morning committed the same attempt on Friday [April 8] and was brought down in 20 minutes,” Kazanasmaz tweeted.

This marks the second suicide attempt on the bridge this year so far. Previously, two women were detained after they shouted at a man to jump off the Bosphorus Bridge so as to relieve a traffic jam. The suspects, identified as Hülya U. and Merve Ö., were accused of “abetting suicide,” for shouting and cursing at Erol Çetin, who committed suicide shortly after the women’s yells on March 8.

“We’ve been stuck in traffic for hours because of you. Jump already,” the women allegedly shouted at Çetin.
The women reportedly denied the accusations during their interrogation, but both were sent to court with a demand for their arrest early on March 9.

They were released under legal control by an Istanbul court on March 10.