Warning: This article contains details that readers may find distressing
Two people have died in the Japanese city of Yokohama after a teenage girl jumped to her death from a shopping centre, hitting a pedestrian below.
The 17-year-old high school student jumped from a building in a crowded shopping district, hitting a 32-year-old woman who was out with her friends on Saturday evening.
The two were immediately taken to hospital around 18:00 local time (09:00 GMT), where the girl died an hour later. The woman also died soon after.
It’s not clear why she might have killed herself, though more people under the age of 18 in Japan kill themselves on 1 September – just ahead of the new school term – than on any other day, according to official statistics.
Last year, 513 children took their own lives in Japan, with “school problems” cited as the most common factor.
Students who don’t want to return to school are known as futoko, or “people who don’t go to school.”
The main reasons why these futoko avoid school include family circumstances, personal issues with friends, and bullying, according to a previous survey by the ministry of education. (BBC)