Hackney Commuters hit by massive gridlock after man threatens suicide
By ABattisby | Wednesday, December 02, 2009, 13:33
Hackney commuters were hit by a massive gridlock last night after a man threatened to commit suicide by jumping off a roof.
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Picture courtesy of the Evening Standard
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Traffic in Hackney
The rooftop protest led to the closure of the A12.
The Hackney Gazette reported: "Thousands of commuters were hit by the massive gridlock which built up across the whole of East London, after police sealed off the A12 dual carriageway at Leytonstone."
They said that the traffic began to build up in the afternoon and reached a peak in the evening rush-hour.
Many people tweeted about the build up to @DalstonPeople.
Among those affected were patients being ferried to the Homerton Hospital in Hackney when ambulances could not get through.
Motorist Barbara Hughes, 57, who was stuck for several hours trying to get to the A12, told the Hackney Gazette: "The ambulances were stuck in the gridlock and the paramedics had to carry patients on stretchers along the pavement to reach the hospital.
"All the buses that couldn't get through just turned their lights off.
"I had to get out of the car myself after four hours because I have deep-vein thrombosis just to stretch my legs."
Scotland Yard confirmed that a man was arrested after the eight-and-a-half hour 'stand off' after he volunteered to come down from the roof of Leytonstone's 491 Gallery in Grove Green Road at 11pm.
Police were called in by neighbours when they spotted the man threatening to jump from the rooftop and negotiators tried to reason with the man from 2.30pm.
He is being questioned by police.
Comments
Ah, I was trying out a new route home for the first time last night from my new office location and it took 2 hours to get back on the bus and I swore never again - that makes more sense now, maybe I should give it another go!
By zoebow09 at 17:45 on 03/12/09
ReportApparently he was seen playing a saxophone and throwing tiles off the roof!
By HannahHackney at 13:31 on 02/12/09
Report