Frustrated death leap

What pushed a woman, a survivor 1998 Ozone tragedy, to jump from the open portion of the Quezon Avenue-EDSA tunnel into the ground below?

Michelle Tan, who came out alive from the disco fire that left 180 dead, attempted to jump to her death yesterday morning to dramatize what she called "the inaction of the city government to help her." She was again lucky to survive the leap.

Bystanders cheered and urged her to jump after she threatened to kill herself over her failure to get financial assistance from city hall. She was urged to jump after rescuers set up a rescue mat to break her fall.

Witnesses said Tan had been notably depressed as she stood at the top of the tunnel at around 5 a.m.,prompting concerned citizens to call for a rescue team. FO3 Federico Allan, one of rescuers who arrive on the scene, was able to restrain the victim as the mat was being prepared.

When the mat was in place, the crowd shouted: "kaya mo ’yan (you can do it)!"

It was unclear if she jumped or was pushed but as she fell from concrete beams of the tunnel, she took with her one of the men who had restrained her. The two landed on the rescue mat .

Tan suffered no injuries but the man who tried to restrain her suffered broken ribs and now being treated at the East Avenue Medical Center.

After her fall, the woman kept blaming Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. for her plight but the social welfare department of City Hall said it has no record that she had ever gone to them to seek financial assistance.

According to Tess Mariano, city social welfare officer, she knew Tan was among the more than 200 people who suffered injuries at the Ozone disco fire,

Mariano said Tan, 28, with no permanent address, had been diagnosed as suffering from a psychiatric disorder. Records showed she is a native of Laguna.

The welfare officer said the city social services will provide the necessary assistance to the woman.