A tragic incident happened in China, where a firefighter reportedly fell to his death from the rooftop of an apartment building.
The firefighter was trying to save the woman from jumping down the building.
Unfortunately, both the firefighter and the woman died after they fell down from the roof together.
Firefighter was only 24-years-old
The incident happened in Mengcheng, a country situated inside the Anhui province in China; and took place on 12 November.
The 24-year-old firefighter, Chen Jianjun, was trying to save the 50-year-old woman who was in emotional duress, from jumping down the apartment building.
According to the Southern Metropolis Daily, the woman had reportedly reached the rooftop of the building at about 7 or 8 am and remained there for a few hours.
Initially, nobody took notice of the woman as there were some people working on the roof, and people naturally assumed that she was one of the people working up there.
Tragic end
The police and firefighters arrived at the scene soon after being alerted and tried calming the woman down, urging her to get to safety.
An air cushion was then set up on the ground floor but as the woman was running around on the roof, the rescuers were as a result unable to determine where she was going to jump down from, resulting in the air cushion not being deployed in the right place on time.
The woman eventually jumped down from the roof to her death.
Chen tried his hardest to save the woman by holding on to her and trying to pull her back to safety but inadvertently fell down with her to their deaths.
Despite this, upon landing, his grip on her never loosened even after they fell from the roof.
The woman was pronounced dead while Chen died the following morning after unsuccessful attempts to save him in the hospital.
Firefighter lauded as a hero
An outpouring of grief on social media was sparked by Chen’s heroic actions and subsequent death.
He was also hailed as a national hero for his bravery and selflessness.
Chen’s firefighting department commemorated him and his acts of bravery since the start of his firefighting career on Weibo.
Chen had been involved in more than 1,300 rescue operations and saved hundreds of civilians.
Images source: Weibo