Woman caught mid-air during suicide attempt

Liang Xibin (above, with cigarette) holds both the woman and her boyfriend while waiting for firefighters to arrive after her suicide attempt in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province on August 10. Photo: Heilongjiang Morning News

A woman who had attempted suicide from her fifth-story apartment was heroically caught by her boyfriend and a neighbor as she fell past the window directly below in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

A witness surnamed Lai called firefighters when he saw the woman sitting on her windowsill, according to the Heilongjiang Morning News on August 11.

The boyfriend, who she had locked out of their apartment during a quarrel, rushed to persuade the distraught woman not to jump from a neighbor's window below.

According to witnesses, the woman jumped without warning and was immediately caught by her boyfriend as she passed - the momentum of which almost pulled him out the window.

Luckily, 51-year-old neighbor Liang Xibin, who resides in the fourth-floor apartment, was there to grab the couple while another neighbor on the third floor held the woman's dangling foot.

It was later revealed that Liang had convinced the boyfriend to tie a rope around his waist while persuading his girlfriend not to jump.

Firefighters finally arrived with ladders to rescue the suspended couple.

Netizens dubbed Liang "the best neighbor in China", who was not only crucial to the rescue, but also failed to drop the cigarette in his mouth during the entire ordeal.

The story follows a similar case that occurred just days ago in Changchun, Jilin Province, where a woman saved her husband after he jumped from their sixth-floor apartment window by catching his right leg on July 31.