Suicides Up By 3 Last Year On D.C. Area's Metro
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Three more people attempted suicide last year on Metro than the year before, and the agency says it is working to reduce suicides in the transit system.
Spokesman Dan Stessel says nine people attempted suicide on Metro last year and seven died. In 2010, six people attempted suicide. Stessel says that because the numbers are so small, however, it's hard to extrapolate any trends.
The Washington Examiner reports that Metro is lagging in implementing a program to reduce suicide attempts. The paper says Metro has trained about 180 of the 960 station managers and train operators to spot suicidal riders as part of a $250,000 program. It also has yet to post suicide hotline numbers in stations.
Stessel says Metro plans to put the signs up by April.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
