Man jumps to death in front of TV cameras
A 39-year-old Albanian man jumped to his death yesterday from a sixth-floor apartment in the center of Patras in front of television cameras he had purportedly invited to the scene himself. Ibraim Praim climbed up onto the railings of the sixth-floor apartment, where he had been carrying out renovation works, at about 8 a.m., according to witnesses. He is then said to have called out for television channels to cover his imminent suicide. Police officers rushed to the scene, followed by the local fire brigade, and tried to talk the man into climbing down off the railings. Firefighters started folding out an inflatable mattress to cushion his fall but stopped when he threatened to jump before it was inflated. Some officers climbed to the top floor of the building and appealed to him from there. The man’s wife, who reportedly gave birth to the couple’s third child just a few days ago, also tried to talk him down, but to no avail. At around 9 a.m., surrounded by TV reporters, police officers and neighbors, he jumped, landing on top of an adjacent two-story building. Praim is believed to have committed suicide due to family problems. It is unclear, however, why he invited the media to cover the incident.
