UP to late last evening, police were seeking the help of members of the public in identifying the body of a woman which washed up in the vicinity of the Coast Guard Base at Ruimveldt after she had jumped to her death from the Demerara Harbour Bridge.According to information received by this newspaper, the woman, who appears to be in her forties, exited a bus on the western side of the Bridge and walked to the spot where she mounted herself and plunged to her death.

In video footage seen by this newspaper, the woman walked along the southern section of the bridge from the western end, and was wearing a skirt and top, and carrying a black handbag slung over her shoulder. However, at the time her body was recovered, she was just wearing a pair of ‘tights’ and a T-shirt, according to police sources.

A Police Special Guard reported to management of the Demerara Harbour Bridge that as she was approaching the woman to talk to her after being told that she may be contemplating suicide, the woman jumped off the floating structure before she could even reach her.
Video evidence showed that the woman walked onto the Bridge at approximately 15:05hrs, mounted herself on a section of the Bridge, then jumped. It was also reported that persons who passed and saw the woman, telephoned the Demerara Harbour Bridge and informed them of the presence of the woman; and this prompted the guard to approach her.
The woman’s body was not immediately recovered after she jumped to her death, nor were marine police successful in retrieving any of her belongings from the river up to press time last evening.
Speaking with the media yesterday afternoon, General Manager of the DHB, Rawlston Adams explained that immediately after receiving information about the incident, the police were informed and the coastguard initially came up empty handed in a search for the woman.
Yesterday the DHB manager and his team were reviewing video footage to ascertain from which direction the woman accessed the bridge. It was confirmed later in the evening that the woman who was seen walking to the bridge was the same one who jumped off the structure.
On Christmas Eve a woman jumped to her death from the very structure but her body was immediately recovered by DHB workers who had raced to the scene in their maintenance boat.