A DISTRESSED man was talked into coming down from a bridge above one of the region’s busiest roads.
The man, who has not been identified, was above the A483 near Coedpoeth on Saturday night when police were called to the scene.
Trained negotiators were involved in helping persuade the man to safely leave the bridge.
Much of the surrounding area came to a standstill. Roads were closed and emergency services staff turned out to an hour-long drama which ended successfully as the man walked to safety and was taken to hospital.
Police cordoned off the area surrounding the bridge, including two main roads. Roads reopened at 9.30pm.
A driver said she had been delayed on the A483 for an hour with no traffic moving in either direction while the man was on the bridge. A stretch of the adjacent Ruthin Road was also closed off.
The motorist added shouting could be heard from a male voice on the bridge.
A North Wales Police spokesman said: “At 8.26pm on Saturday North Wales Police were called to the bridge on the A483 near Coedpoeth following the report of a man in a distressed situation.
“A number of police officers, including trained negotiators, attended the location as well as staff from the Welsh Ambulance Service.
“After some dialogue the man was persuaded to leave the bridge. He was later admitted to hospital.”
- The threat to jump occurred three days after a man threatened do so from a bridge in Garden City.
Police, the police helicopter and coastguard joined Flint Royal National Lifeboat Institution volunteer crew in the early hours of Thursday following a report a man was intending to jump from the Blue Bridge.
Flint RNLI reached the scene at 1.55am and carried out a thorough search of the river downstream. The police helicopter carried out two separate sweeps of the area using its thermal imaging equipment.
Alan Forrester, Flint volunteer lifeboat operations manager, said: “We had a full turnout of volunteers. Some had only just arrived home from work and others were going straight to work after the call.
“I can’t praise them enough.”
A North Wales Police spokesman said: “We received a call saying somebody was intending to self harm. We carried out a search of the area but there was no sign of anybody.”
The search was called off at 4am.
- A MAN believed to be in his 40s was rushed to Wrexham Maelor Hospital after sustaining multiple injuries when he fell 20ft from a bridge on Castle Street, Llangollen, on Tuesday.
Emergency services had earlier received calls about a man threatening to throw himself off the bridge, with a cordon created in the Castle Street area of the town to keep passing traffic and pedestrians away from the scene.
The man fell onto rocks on the River Dee while police, fire and ambulance were well represented at the scene. A trained police negotiator made strenuous efforts to talk the man to safety.
North Wales Police have appealed for anyone who witnessed the bridge fall to contact the police/fire service joint control room on 101, quoting incident reference number L157814.
- Flint RNLI is looking for extra crew members. For details call Alan Forrester on 07785593247.