An Indonesian woman sustained minor injuries on Monday after attempting to commit suicide by jumping from the eighth floor of a building in Taipei, local press reported.
The woman, nicknamed Annie, 36, was scheduled to return to Indonesia to visit her son. The reports said she survived the fall because her clothes got caught on telephone wires, after which she bounced on the awning of the building before rolling onto the sidewalk.
Annie's broker said she has been working in Taiwan for three years as a caregiver for a family surnamed Lin. She recently requested a few days off, saying, “her son was in danger,” the broker said. She spent the night at the brokerage firm office before her scheduled flight on Monday.
Witnesses said at around 6am on Monday morning, they saw a woman standing on top of an air conditioner on a building on Heping E Road. Passers-by yelled for her not to jump.
A neighbor who saw her standing on top of the air conditioner said at first she thought it was strange that someone would be cleaning the machine so early in the morning. The neighbor immediately contacted the doorman when she realized it was a suicide attempt.
The report said that when the doorman knocked on the door of the firm's office, another domestic worker said they were also looking for a girl who was missing to which he responded, “she is standing on top of the air conditioner outside.”
A witness surnamed Huang said the woman stood on top of the air conditioner for about 15 minutes and jumped off as soon as the firefighters arrived.
The woman reportedly sustained minor bone fractures in both of her arms from the plunge.
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