Chinese man threatening to commit suicide pushed off bridge

A Chinese man threatening to commit suicide was pushed off a bridge by an angry passerby after the man held up the traffic for about five hours.

For hours, Chinese police were trying to dissuade Chen Fuchao from killing himself by jumping off a bridge. Chen supposedly had a 2-million Yuan ($293,000) debt because of his failed building project. Lian Jiansheng, 66, a retired soldier broke through the police barrier, walked up to the man and shook Chen's hand. After he shook hands, Lian pushed him off the bridge. Lian told the China Daily newspaper:

"I pushed him off because jumpers like Chen are very selfish. Their action violates a lot of public interests...They do not really dare to kill themselves. Instead, they just want to raise the relevant government authorities' attention to their appeals."

Luckily for Chen, he fell about eight meters (26.25 feet) onto a partially inflated emergency air cushion set up by the police. He was hospitalized with wrist and back injuries. Lian was detained by the police, but it's not clear what kind of punishment he will be given by Chinese authorities. Chen was the twelfth person to threaten suicide from the same bridge since April. Nobody has actually jumped.