A 27-year-old male committed suicide at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport on Thursday after checking into a flight to Johannesburg.
The man, who has been identified as Cecil Themba Elisha, a resident of Killarney suburb in Bulawayo, allegedly hitched himself using a door hinge.
An airport worker who spoke to ZimLive said the suicide move appeared “almost impossible to pull off.” Said worker:
It beggars belief because how do you use a door to kill yourself? He must have worked really hard for it. I guess when it’s your day, it’s your day.
Police reportedly recovered a diary “full of suicide notes”, and “The young man had a lot which was happening in his life”, according to a ZimLive source.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) spokesperson for Bulawayo Province, Inspector Abednico Ncube said Elisha completed all travel formalities at the airport as he checked in for the 5.30 PM Fastjet flight to Johannesburg. He said:
He went to the toilets and took too long to return thereby delaying the flight to depart. The airport aviation security officer started looking for him and he found him hanging at the back of the door of the international departure toilet.
He used a nylon rope to hang himself on the hinge which is at the back of the toilet door.
In an unrelated incident, a renowned cattle breeder and proprietor of Heads and Hooves Butchery in Bulawayo, Christopher Androliakos, took his own life at his home on Thursday.
Inspector Ncube urged members of the public to seek counselling if they encounter problems, rather than resorting to suicide.
