Dubai Residents in a quiet corner of Jumeirah Lakes Towers (JLT) expressed shock yesterday in the wake of a woman falling to her death from an 18th-floor balcony of a tower a day earlier.
The body was discovered by security guards working in the building in which she lived. They informed police and emergency authorities.
From the grocery to the security guard desk at the victim’s building, neighbours and workers were saddened by news of the woman’s death in an area where almost two months ago a teenage girl fell to her death from the 14th floor of a nearby building.
Eyewitness accounts
The fatal fall happened at Jumeirah Bay X1 building some time between 3 and 4pm, said one witness who was on the scene within seconds of the incident and saw first-hand the aftermath of the fall.
Dubai Police yesterday ruled the death a suicide after learning that the woman had thrown herself from the balcony. Police said that somehow she landed on a balcony on the first floor during her fall. They added that they were told the woman was having psychological problems.
The woman was reportedly in her 30s and the mother of a child, said a building security officer. Another security officer confirmed that the victim was Turkish and is believed to have lived with her husband and daughter.
A delivery boy at a supermarket in the same building told Gulf News yesterday that he first heard a strange sound outside and then proceeded to find out the origin of the noise.“I saw her as people were approaching and we called the police,” he said.
Another bystander said the woman “fell from the left-hand side of the building and landed in an area where children from neighbouring buildings get together to play”.
The building manager confirmed the incident when asked by Gulf News, but declined to comment further. According to residents of the building, who also refused to be identified, the incident was a shock.
Nawal Al Ramahi is a trainee at Gulf News.
