A Japanese engineer committed suicide after a cable snapped on a bridge currently under construction over the Gulf of İzmit, media outlets reported on Monday.
Cables on the İzmit Gulf Bridge snapped on Saturday. According to autopsy reports, 51-year-old Kishi Ryoichi slashed his wrists and then cut his own throat. His body was found at the entrance to a cemetery in the Altınova district of Yalova province. Ryoichi reportedly left a note saying he felt responsible for the accident.
Altınova District Governor Nurullah Kaya issued a statement on Monday saying that the body of the Japanese national was discovered by a group of students on their way to school. The body of the engineer was taken to Yalova State Hospital and a criminal investigation has been launched into the incident.
The suspension bridge is expected to be completed in 2017 at a cost of $1 billion and is part of a highway project that is expected to significantly reduce travel time between İstanbul and the Aegean city of İzmir, while the bridge itself -- being built between Gebze and the province of Yalova -- will drastically reduce travel time around the Gulf of İzmit.
The highway begins in the town of Gebze and passes through Hersek in Yalova province. It will then proceed from Bursa to the northwestern province of Balıkesir and end in İzmir. The highway will be 420 kilometers long when completed and the suspension bridge over the Gulf of İzmit is 3,000 meters in length.
Nearly a year ago, a fatal accident took place at the site of another bridge currently being constructed, the third bridge over the Bosporus strait. Scaffolding from a viaduct at the construction site collapsed in April of last year while concrete was being poured, causing three construction workers to fall 50 meters to their deaths.