Woman in Hong Kong threatens to jump off building over unpaid wages

A cityscape view of Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, China. INQUIRER.net stock photo

One woman from Hong Kong engaged in a stand-off with authorities and had an entire traffic lane closed after threatening to jump from a building due to unsettled wages

The incident happened around noontime of Dec. 17. Local police were alerted by the woman’s colleague after saying she was threatening to jump off the roof of Elizabeth House, a commercial space in Causeway Bay, as per South China Morning Post on Dec. 18.

A police officer arrived at the scene to try and convince the woman to come down from the building. She was reported to have been asking for HK$200,000 of unpaid wages, or around the ballpark figure of $25,600 (P1.3 million).

The woman, at one point, disappeared from the scaffolding after hours of mediation by authorities. She then returned to the same spot the following morning on Tuesday only to retire inside the building hours later at noon.

“She returned to a safe location in the flat and did not sustain any injuries,” a police spokesperson said in the report. Authorities have since ruled the incident as an “attempted suicide.” Cody Cepeda/JB

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