Man kills girlfriend, then commits suicide in front of emergency service workers

SAITAMA — A man committed suicide in front of emergency services while his girlfriend lay dead in their apartment, police said Tuesday. Emergency services were called to a ninth floor apartment in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, at around 3 a.m. Monday after neighbors reported smelling gas, NTV reported. Firefighters entered the apartment and found the body of a 34-year-old Chinese woman lying face up in bed. Marks on the woman’s neck were consistent with death by strangulation, police said later. Emergency workers located a portable cooking stove that was leaking gas in the living room. They then looked at the balcony and found the woman’s boyfriend, a 44-year-old Japanese man, holding on to the handrail, suspended outside the balcony. As firefighters approached, the man let go and fell five stories to a roof on the fourth floor. He was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police believe the man took his girlfriend’s life before committing suicide. An investigation into the motive behind the incident is ongoing.

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