Police officers and crisis negotiators have responded to a suicide threat in Athens, as a 38-year-old man is threatening to jump off the 6th floor of an apartment building.
The incident began at around 10.30 am when the man, reportedly a Palestinian, started threatening he would plunge from the sixth floor of an apartment on Acharnon Street. Some reports suggested he also threatened to blow up a kitchen gas cylinder. While negotiators are trying to calm the man down, it is difficult as he appears to be under the influence.
While initial reports indicated that the man is an asylum seeker from Syria, it is now believed he is Palestinian, possibly from Gaza, and is suffering from psychological problems, as he had threatened to commit suicide again recently and had been taken to a psychiatric ward for this reason.
According to one local resident’s unconfirmed claims, the man had lost family members in Gaza.
The area has been cordoned off by police and fire brigade, and both the building where the man is located and the nearby Ministry of Rural Development and Food have been evacuated.
Additionally, traffic has been halted around a city block delineated by Acharnon, Marnis and Stournaris streets.
The man was later apprehended without injury and taken into custody.
