Jordanian stabs himself to death inside elevator in Kuwait

Cairo: A Jordanian expatriate had committed suicide by stabbing himself inside an elevator in Kuwait, a local newspaper said, amid a rise in suicide cases in the country.

Police were alerted by a resident in a building in the area of Khitan, part of the Farawaniya governorate, that the expatriate’s body had been found on the elevator, Al Rai newspaper added.

The expatriate, whose age was not given, had used a knife in the suicide.

Forty-one suicide cases and 43 suicide attempts were registered last year in Kuwait, a country of around 4.6 million people mostly foreigners, according to official figures.

Last October, Kuwaiti sources said expatriates attempting suicide face deportation after a reported rise in such bids in the country.

“Clear and straightforward instructions have been issued by the Interior Ministry to security men to deal firmly with these cases,” a source was quoted by Al Qabas newspaper as saying at the time.

Kuwait has boosted security on the Sheikh Jaber Causeway, one of the world’s longest bridges, after an increase in suicide attempts on the site, according to local media.