Man left dangling in failed suicide attempt after his pants snagged on HDB clothes drying rack

One uncle was literally left hanging by his pants as he dangled precariously from the 8th storey of an HDB block in Tampines — a suicide attempt foiled by a clothes drying rack.

A passerby who sent the photos to Coconuts Singapore informed us that the high-rise crisis transpired earlier this afternoon at Block 410 along Tampines Street 41. It’s not clear how long the man was stuck there, but a sizeable crowd had already congregated at the area at 3.40pm. 

It seems that the 68-year-old man had tried to end his life, according to the police. He had fallen from the window of his unit on the 11th floor, but fate had a different plan when his trousers got snagged, saving him from an unfortunate demise. 

Fortunately, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) arrived in the nick of time to save him, and he was safely extricated at about 4.10pm with the help of a Combined Platform-Ladder and officers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART). Call it luck or just having some really durable pants, but the uncle could have very well died from the fall earlier on if circumstances were a lot different. 

Speaking to The New Paper, the man’s son expressed his shock about the incident, noting that his father seemed “a bit depressed recently”. The elderly man was alone at home when he fell — a 1.5m metal ladder is believed to have been used to climb out the window. 

After the rescue, the man was taken to Changi General Hospital in a conscious and stable condition, though he was arrested for attempted suicide. 

 

EDIT: The story has been updated with new information from the authorities and other media reports. 



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