Woman commits suicide at LRT station

MANILA, Philippines - A woman jumped to her death in front of an approaching train at the Light Rail Transit’s EDSA station in Pasay City yesterday morning.

The unidentified victim died on the spot after her head was crushed by the train at around 5:50 a.m. LRT Authority spokesman Hernando Cabrera told ABS-CBN that footage taken by closed-circuit television cameras show the “woman jumped into the tracks right after the platform guard walked by her.”

The woman, described to be between the ages of 50 and 60, was wearing jeans and a gray shirt, according to police. She had no other items on her person except an LRT ticket and P29 in coins.

The woman’s suicide disrupted operations at the rail line, forcing it to operate only from Roosevelt to the Central Station until around 6:30 a.m., right at the start of the morning rush hour.

Cabrera said they were able to resume full rail line operations at the LRT Line 1 at around 9:35 a.m.

No suicide watch

Cabrera said they “don’t really have a suicide watch” for LRT Lines 1 and 2 and the Metro Rail Transit. “Generally, our security guards are told to watch for suspicious behavior, and this would include those planning a suicide attempt or a terrorist with malicious intentions,” he said.

Cabrera said suicides usually involve persons suffering from financial problems or heartbreak.

He said there have been 24 suicide cases – 10 of them successful – since 1984, when the LRT Line 1 started operating. The first case, an unsuccessful attempt, was in 1989.

The highest number of cases for one year was seven, five of them successful, in 1998. “That may have been due to the hard economic times then after the 1997 financial crisis,” Cabrera said.

The next highest number of cases was posted in 2005, with four cases, one of them successful.