An unidentified woman yesterday afternoon jumped to her death from the Demerara Habour Bridge; the second such case in just over a month.
General Manager of the bridge Rawlston Adams told Stabroek News that the woman jumped into the murky brown water of the Demerara River around 3:20 pm while being approached by security personnel.
The police were immediately informed and ranks of the marine section took on the search for the body.
The footage from the bridge’s surveillance cameras is being checked as part of the police’s investigation.
Contacted early last evening, Police `A’ Division Commander Clifton Hicken said that the body was spotted in the vicinity of the army Coast Guard located at Ruimveldt around 5 pm. The body was later retrieved and is now at the Lyken’s Funeral home awaiting identification.
Adams explained to this newspaper that he received information that a woman was on the bridge around 3:20 pm and security personnel were dispatched. He said that as they approached the woman who was fully clothed she jumped into the water. The incident occurred at Span 11 which is located closer to the retractor span on the eastern end of the bridge, Adams said.
He said that the ranks did not get close enough to the woman to either say anything to her or hear if she was saying anything. He said that contact was made with the police and ranks subsequently took statements from the persons who would have witnessed the incident.
He said that the marine section of the Guyana Police Force was also informed.
Asked whether any steps had been put in place since the last incident – December 24 last – to prevent a recurrence, Adams said that there is nothing they can do.
He explained that the bridge is open and has a walkway on which people are allowed to venture.
He said that at the moment his employees don’t have the “training and ability to detect someone in a different mental place”.
Over the years a number of persons have committed suicide by jumping off the bridge.
On Christmas Eve day last year Felicia Hussain of Diamond Housing Scheme who was battling a mental illness plunged to her death.
Hussain’s sister Gwendolyn Lowden, who identified the body had said that the woman might have suffered a relapse.
She said that Hussain who lived with her mother, was last seen by relatives at 11 am, when she left home. She jumped off the bridge at 1pm minutes after she had walked onto the structure.
She was fully clothed when her body was retrieved from the water. Her handbag and shoes were found on the bridge.
