Builders save man in rope suicide bid

A man who tried to commit suicide today by leaping from an office building with a rope around his neck was saved by builders who grabbed his feet and chest as he dangled in mid-air.

Office workers watched in horror as the man tried to hang himself from the fourth floor after scaling scaffolding outside the building in
Farringdon.

With the rope entwined around his neck he leapt from the scaffolding and was seen hanging.

Two quick-thinking builders raced to help him, holding on until colleagues and police hauled the man inside and took him to safety.

The man, described as wearing overalls and in his forties, was said to be critically ill in hospital after the drama in Cowcross Street.

Witness David Fox, 31, who works for a local recruitment consultancy, said: "I noticed someone climbing up the scaffolding on the building across the street at about 9.15am. You could tell he was pretty intoxicated so we called the police who were on the scene within a minute or so.

"He climbed to a few levels above us and there was a rope on a pulley which he wrapped around his neck. He then just jumped off.

"He was hanging for what seemed like 20 seconds but there were two builders there and one gave him a bear hug around his chest and held him around his arms and the other grabbed his legs and they were holding him up. They had a bit of struggle trying to get him inside the building but there's no doubt they saved his life."