Policeman leaps from 21st floor to save suicidal man

This is the heart-stopping moment a police officer leaps over the edge of the 21st floor to save a suicidal man.

The man was standing over the ledge of a building in Fengtai, Beijing on October 31 and threatening to jump, all over a romantic dispute.

Police officers and firefighters soon arrived on the scene, trying in vain for more than an hour to talk the man back to safety.

A quick-thinking police officer, Zhao Zhiyan, who had a safety rope tied around his ankle, leaped into action — literally — risking his life by diving from the 21st floor to grab the suicidal man while he was distracted.

Both Zhao and the man were pulled back to safety by rescuers on scene.

After the incident, Officer Zhao played down his brave actions.

"It's our duty to save people's lives," he said. "If I didn't do what I did, another officer would have done so. No police officer would stand by and let someone kill themselves in front of us."