'Kung fu' policeman swoops in to save suicidal man

A policeman in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, has become the latest Internet sensation after video of him swooping in to stop a suicidal man jumping from a tunnel went viral online.

The incident happened at Tiancheng Road Tunnel near the East Hangzhou Railway Station on May 6, Metropolitan Express reported.

After receiving a report around 6am, the policeman, Yu Kang, rushed to the scene with two auxiliary police officers, arriving within three minutes.

The suicidal man in his 30s was squatting over the very edge of the tunnel and looked poised to jump.

He kept waving a long stick in his hand to stop others from approaching him, forcing Yu to talk with him from a distance at first.

The man said he came from Anhui Province and is now working at a construction site, but that people always "blew him off" and weren't willing to be friends with him.

Yu approached the man slowly while he was distracted, before making a sudden swoop from the back. After performing a "hold and throw" technique, Yu rolled down to safety with the man.

Neither the man nor the policeman were injured in the event, although Yu's shoes and mobile phone were broken.

The suicidal man was later taken to the police station for questioning. Officers criticized his suicide attempt while at the same time encouraging him to build up confidence to face his future.

Chinese netizens applauded Yu for his agility and likened him to a kung fu master.

Yu, who was born in 1988, is a community policeman from Pengbu Police Station. He graduated from Zhejiang Police College and is known to be good at martial arts.