US: 16-year-old Indian American jumps off Golden Gate Bridge, dies

An Indian American teenager is believed to have jumped off the famous Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and died, according to his parents and officials of the US Coastal Guards.

The 16-year-old boy’s bicycle, phone and bag were found on the bridge. The twelfth grader is believed to have jumped off the bridge at around 4.58 pm, they said.

The coastal guards said they immediately carried out a two-hour search and rescue operation after they confirmed they saw “a human” jumping from the bridge.

They said there is little reason to believe that the boy is alive.

Community leader Ajay Jain Bhutoria said this is fourth incident involving an Indian American jumping off the Golden Bridge in an apparent suicide attempt.

According to Bridge Rail Foundation, a non-profit organisation that works towards ending suicides on the Golden Gate Bridge, 25 people ended their lives here last year and nearly 2,000 suicide cases have been reported since the bridge opened in 1937.

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The state government is working to create a 20-foot-wide iron mesh on both sides of the 1.7-mile bridge. However, the project that was scheduled to be completed by January this year is running behind schedule and its construction cost has jumped from €137.26 million to nearly €386.64 million. Work on this project started in 2018.