Fatal falls from heights in and around Diyarbakir, Turkey

Falls from high places, such as from a building, are frequently encountered in suicides, in some accidents, and sometimes in homicides. In this study, we evaluated the demographic data, mortality rates, fall causes, and post-mortem findings of individuals who fell from heights. Our cases were collected retrospectively from the files of the Branch of the Council of Forensic Medicine in Diyarbakir between 1996 and 2001. There were 431 accidental and 53 suicidal deaths due to blunt injury resulting from falls. Of the victims, 188 were female and 296 were male. The average age of the 484 victims was 27.05 years (range: 4 months-100 years). For buildings, the height ranged from 3 to 8 stories for suicides and from 1 to 8 stories for accidents. We proceeded to analyse the characteristics of accidental falls as follows. The majority of falls were from balconies or rooftops due to the tendency of people to sit and sleep on these places during the hotter months of the year. Some 54.5% of all falls occurred in May-August. The 53 suicidal jumps all occurred off buildings. The victims ranged in age from 15 to 70 years, and comprised 29 women and 24 men. One of the deceased jumped from the roof of a school in which he was boarding, and another from the seventh story of a hospital in which he was receiving treatment. The remaining 51 jumped from heights ranging from 3 to 8 stories. Psychiatric illness was reported in 18 (33.9%) of the suicide deaths, while 10 (18.8%) of the 53 suicides were single women. The results of this study were at variance with literature data with respect to the following: falls from heights were most common in the 0-5 year age group, females had a higher suicide rate than males, and the majority of accidental falls occurred at home rather than in the workplace.