Apr 3, 2008 7:41 pm US/Eastern
2 Jumper Deaths In 1 Hour On Tappan Zee
N.Y. State Police: 'An Unprecedented Series Of Events'
Bridge Equipped With Suicide Prevention Telephones
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (CBS/AP) ―
Two men jumped to their deaths from a bridge within an hour Thursday in what police said were unrelated and unprecedented suicides.
One man jumped into the Hudson River from the eastbound lanes of the Tappan Zee Bridge, near the Rockland County side. The other jumped from the westbound lanes, at midspan near the bridge's highest point, 157 feet above the river.
A state police report said the jumps were "an unprecedented series of events" on the bridge, which carries Interstate 87, the New York Thruway, between Rockland and Westchester counties about 15 miles north of New York City.
More than 25 people have made fatal jumps from the Tappan Zee Bridge in the last decade or so, the state Thruway Authority said. In August, the agency opened suicide prevention hot line telephones on the bridge approaches, hoping to dissuade people from taking their lives.
Above each telephone is a sign that says, "When it seems like there is no hope, there is help."
Witnesses saw the first man stop his car and jump over the railing at about 1:40 p.m., police said. He had left the keys in the ignition.
Rescue boats from nearby fire departments found his body after about 25 minutes, half a mile south of the bridge.
The man was taken to Nyack Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His name was not made public, but he was identified as a 55-year-old man from Montvale, N.J.
As his body was being taken ashore, witnesses reported the second man's jump.
Troopers found a vehicle in the right lane with the motor running. The rescue boats went out again, and the second body was found in about 10 minutes, police said. The second man also was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Police identified the second jumper only as a 27-year-old man from Ossining.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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