Chinese Internet users helped save a man who tried to commit suicide while online by helping police track him down using his IP address, state media reported on January 28. The man put up a posting on popular web portal tianya.cn early on January 27, saying he wanted to commit suicide by ingesting toxic medicinal herbs, the Beijing News said.
The online user, who was not identified in the report, then started describing the effects of the herbs, which got worse and worse as time went on.
"2:32, my sight is starting to be affected, it feels like everything around me is glistening, everything is dazzling, I feel nauseous, and my upper arm is starting to go numb," the man wrote, according to the report.
Hundreds of thousands of Internet users clicked on to the posting, and many urged the person to call rescue services. Others traced his Internet protocol (IP) address - a type of numerical label - to Ya'an city in the south-western province of Sichuan, the report said.
Police found the man's home address with the IP information and were able to take him to hospital. He is now out of danger, the report said.