A SHANGHAI suicide map has become a popular topic in various Internet chat rooms. The map marks suitable places and ways to commit suicide in Shanghai¡¯s downtown areas, Shanghai Business reported.

The Shanghai suicide map became popular at the end of June. The words ¡°Finding a place to die¡± are written in bold type on the map. The ¡°suitable¡± suicide places denoted on the map include: metro station, high rises, elevated highway, parks, zoo and river.

Each spot on the map is accompanied by a list of suitable means to take one¡¯s own life such as jumping into the underground railway, taking poison, running into a car, hanging, and drowning.

For example, a certain metro station is marked ¡°suitable to die by jumping onto the rail¡±. While the words ¡°jumping off buildings¡± and ¡°hanging oneself¡± are marked beside certain high building and park. The estimated rates of success of taking one¡¯s life by any particular means at any particular spot are also provided in the map.

The map can be found on more than 4,000 websites. Some think that the map could have the effect of encouraging suicidal tendencies. Others, however, see it as a joke, which, they say, is not as adventurous as it should be.

Recently, jumping in front of trains in the underground has become a first choice by people wanting to take their own lives. Recent deaths in this manner have caused concern that an increase in railway suicides would not only disrupt traffic but also cast a psychological shadow and security threat in the minds of the public.

Between July 1995 and February 2004, 65 suicide attempts were made in Shanghai railway traffic, 48 of them successful. In June this year, three people attempted suicide in the underground railways, two of them successfully. Since 1995, an average of eight suicide attempts have been made in metro stations each year. The procedure of handling traffic accidents lasts more than 30 minutes. Most people were saved by the station guards just after they jumped to the rails. (Star News)