Suicidal man prompts emergency operative

SANTIAGO.- An intensive rescue operation was in effect for approximately 30 minutes to prevent a man from committing suicide as he threatened to jump off of an overpass 10 meters high on the Autopista Central.

32 year-old Gerardo Antonio Castro Ramírez, was seen suspending himself from the overpass while gripping a steel bar and placing his feet on top of an electrical cable tube. The man was wearing a white shirt and jeans.

Personnel from the 11th Commissary of Lo Espejo, the Police Special Operations Unit (GOPE), the Autopista Central and Firefighting Department were dispatched to the scene.

The incident caused a traffic jam along the eastern side of Ruta 5 Sur, where only one lane remained open to vehicles while the emergency took place.

Meanwhile, GOPE personnel set up an air-filled cushion along Américo Vespucio Sur in case the man decided to jump.

After a little over half an hour, fire-fighters and police arrived to take the man against his will to the side of the road, preventing his suicide attempt.