HEADLINE: Four Ukrainians kill themselves in separate incidents

DATELINE: Kiev

Four Ukrainians ended their lives in Kiev in separate overnight incidents, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.

The usual suicide rate in the Ukrainian capital is three or four a month, a city spokesman said.

One woman, 76, threw herself from the sixth floor balcony of a hospital where she was undergoing treatment. A man, 74, jumped from his window in an apartment high-rise.

Another retiree ended his life by pouring petrol over his body and setting himself on fire in his own apartment. Firemen responding to the scene were able to douse the blaze, but could not save him.

Though Ukraines economy is slowly improving, retirees are often forced to live on pensions as small as 20 dollars a month, sometimes not paid on time.

A man, 37, hanged himself in his house because of reported business problems.

More than 14,000 Ukrainians commit suicide every year, in a population of around 50 million, the report said.

SOURCE: Deutsche Presse-Agentur, November 23, 2000. Reprinted by permission of Deutsche Presse-Agentur.