The Wahuan Yangtze bridge, located in the Hubei province in central China, has been dubbed a “lovers’ leap” because of the large number of people who commit suicide there each year. In 2013, a photographer standing on a viewing platform was snapping pictures of the bridge, which was shrouded in an eerie fog, when he inadvertently captured these memorable photos of a couple’s suicide leap. As he said after the incident, he never even realized the tragedy he had captured on film.

“I didn’t even see the first person jump because I was concentrating so much on the camera settings, and I didn’t realize at first that I had snapped the man jumping to his death. It was only then after snapping the photograph that I heard someone shout that somebody had jumped. I heard him hit the water below and then seconds later a woman climbed onto the bridge and jumped as well.”

Officials say that in China, suicide is the single biggest killer among Chinese aged 15 to 34. Extreme pressure to perform well at school and find employment are the main reasons for the high rate of suicide among China’s youth. The couple in these photographs were later identified from belongings they left on top of the bridge. It is not known why the pair had made a pact to throw themselves to their deaths.

Sources: Reuters

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China man suicide leap via Daily Mail by Reuters with usage type - Editorial use (Fair Use)
China woman suicide leap via Daily Mail by Reuters with usage type - Editorial use (Fair Use)