social status,
or gender does not define a reason
for committing suicide. Every year
about 1,000,000 suicides occur
worldwide. Europe, both east and
west, has about 163,000 instances
annually. Most people decide to end
their lives at home or work, but some
of them choose a special place to
visit before death.
According to the World Health
Organization (WHO) Europe has the
world’s highest suicide rate and if it
used to be the over-75 age group,
today the cases are rising among
young people. Women attempt
suicide 3 times more than men,
though men 3 times more actually
succeed. It is known that women are
more likely to chose “romantic” ways
of killing themselves like poisoning or
jumping off high buildings and
bridges while men use much more
violent methods such as gunshot to
the head or mouth or a intentional
crash injury. All the scientists and
researchers firmly insist that Europe
needs to reduce its shameful record
of 17.5 suicides per 100,000 people.
Among the top ten suicidal countries
worldwide are the UK, Sweden,
Germany, France, Hungary, and
Belgium.
Today not only the number but also
the types of suicides have changed. A
current trend has people coming from
different countries to big cities and
famous places of interest to end their
lives by jumping off a cliff, a bridge,
or a tower. This kind of suicide is
referred to as “tourists-suicides”, and
the popular places where the act
takes place – “suicide sites”. These
destinations have a certain reputation
and some magic aura that attracts
people who have decided to take
their own life. Psychologists say those
who attempt suicide in a well-known
place are trying to draw other
people’s attention that they sought
while alive.
Among such suicide sites – Clifton
Bridge and Humber Bridge located in
the UK, Göltzschtalbrücke – the
railway bridge in Germany, Cliffs of
Moher – the spectacular seaside cliffs
located in Ireland, Nusle Bridge (or
Nuselsky Most) in Prague, and of
course Eiffel Tower in Paris are the
most well-known.
A lot of people kill themselves in
Paris, and jumping off the “Iron
Lady” (which is 1,063 feet high) is the
third most popular method of suicide
after poisoning and hanging in
France. Actually only about 68% of
the suicides are known by the Official
Statistic in the Paris region and 26%
of them in the city of Paris proper.
After AIDS, suicide is the second
most frequent cause of death in Paris.
The first suicide at the Eiffel Tower
was committed by a 23-year-old man,
who hanged himself from one of the
beams on July, 15th 1898. The most
recent case of suicide, according the
media, happened on June, 26th this
year. A young woman threw herself
from half way up the Eiffel Tower,
crashing onto a restaurant patio on
the first floor of the Paris monument.
For 120 years since the monument’s
construction about 400 people killed
themselves there, of which two
survived the 171 feet drop from the
first floor, one was blown onto a
rafter by the wind and one young
woman landed on the roof of a car. A
bit of good news from that potentially
tragic attempt – after recovering from
her injuries this woman married the
owner of the car.
Several years ago 6 feet high barriers
were constructed on the tower
perimeter in order to reduce the
number of incidents. Apparently the
barriers have had a positive effect.
The Police Préfecture claims that
suicide attempts from the tower have
become very rare. Even so, there are
still a lot of people who desire to
jump off a famous Paris site. At least
4-5 cases of suicide a year happen in
the capital city. That is the reason why
the Eiffel Tower is named one of the
most popular suicide sites in Europe.
Parisians would prefer it just be
known as a nice place to visit…
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