A Woman Who Said "I Don't Want to Live" Jumps into Jungnangcheon River During Heavy Rain... Police Rescue Her Barehanded

100mm Per Hour Heavy Rain... Jungnangcheon Controlled
Woman in Her 50s Says "I Don't Want to Live" and Jumps In
Police Officer Rescues Her Barehanded from Jungnangcheon

A woman in her 50s jumped into a river swollen by heavy rain of 100mm per hour. Police officers who arrived at the scene did not hesitate to jump into the water with their bare hands and successfully rescued the woman.

On the 22nd, the police announced that at around 7:17 a.m. on the 18th, a report was received at the Jungnang Police Station’s Junghwa Precinct in Seoul stating, "A woman is entering Jungnangcheon." Accordingly, Sergeant Choi Young-han (45) and Officer Lee Si-eun (32) immediately rushed to the scene.

At that time, Seoul was experiencing rainfall of 100mm per hour. Due to the record-breaking heavy rain, a heavy rain advisory was issued throughout Seoul, and both directions of traffic and walking paths along the Han River and Jungnangcheon were all closed due to rising water levels.

When the police officers arrived at the scene, the water had risen up to the chest of Ms. A, a woman in her 50s who had jumped into the river intending to commit suicide. Ms. A repeatedly said, "I don’t want to live," and tried to go deeper into the water. In response, Sergeant Choi did not hesitate and jumped into the water with his bare hands.

Lieutenant Choi Young-han rescuing a woman who jumped into the Jungnangcheon River with his bare hands.
[Photo by Junghwa Police Substation, Jungnang Police Station]

Looking at the situation at the time, Ms. A was seen trapped in the muddy Jungnangcheon, swollen by the heavy rain. Despite the rising water, Sergeant Choi calmly held onto Ms. A from behind and headed toward the stairs. The stairs were already half submerged. Ms. A kept saying, "I don’t want to live," and lay down, but Sergeant Choi patiently rescued her.

It took Sergeant Choi only four minutes to rescue Ms. A. After Sergeant Choi safely rescued her, the 119 emergency medical team arrived and safely handed Ms. A over to her family. Sergeant Choi said, "The situation was very urgent at the time, and there was no other way because I was worried she would go deeper. Rather than being scared, I think I just had a stronger thought that I had to save her no matter what."