A 55-year-old grandmother killed her two grandsons early yesterday morning before slitting one of her own wrists in an attempt to commit suicide. She is in stable condition after emergency workers rushed her to the hospital.
Wu Shu-hui, who previously suffered a minor stroke, had been taking care of her two grandsons, 7 and 8, since the divorce of her son, who has gone to Keelung to seek employment.
Neighbors said the elder grandson was mentally retarded, and that it was probably stress from living conditions and heavy financial pressures that caused the woman to decide to end the lives of the two children and her own.
Wu burned charcoal in her bedroom early yesterday morning after her two grandsons went to bed.
The younger boy died from carbon monoxide inhalation, but the elder grandson woke up and shook his grandmother, attempting to wake her. Realizing the elder grandson was still alive, she used a knife to stab the boy to death before slitting one of her own wrists.
treasure life
Meanwhile, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) urged Taiwanese to treasure life and said it is wrong for parents to kill their children when they intend to commit suicide.
"As long as you are alive, there is hope," the premier said.
"Just as the sun goes down today but will rise tomorrow, every day brings new hope," Su said at the launching ceremony of the picture book Don't Take Me Along.
The book tells children how to seek help if their parents plan a family suicide.
Companies also began printing messages on packages of charcoal yesterday in an effort to prevent people from using the product to commit suicide.
One brand of barbecue charcoal imported from Indonesia appeared on the shelves of supermarkets with the warning on its package.
Message on charcoal
The message read: "Charcoal can bring you warmth and light. No matter where you are and what difficulties you face. We are willing to help you."
It included the phone numbers of suicide-prevention hotlines.
J&C Buying Agent Co Ltd, the importer of the Indonesian charcoal, printed the message in response to concerns raised by the Department of Health's about a recent wave of suicides by charcoal-burning.
In the past month, hardly a day has gone by without someone committing suicide by burning charcoal and inhaling the carbon dioxide.
Many of the deceased were the so-called "card abusers" -- people who have fallen hopelessly into debt on their credit cards.
High suicide rate
Taiwan has one of the highest suicide rates in Asia with an incident recorded every two-and-a-half hours.
In 2004, 3,468 Taiwanese committed suicide, 273 more than in 2003. The rate was 15.31 suicides per every 100,000 people.
Japan has the highest suicide rate in Asia, at 24.1 suicides per every 100,000 people.
In 2004, more than 32,000 Japanese committed suicide, averaging 87 suicides a day, or one every 20 minutes.
Burning charcoal in closed quarters is a common method of suicide in Japan as well.
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