Chile: "the tallest building in Latin America", symbol of tragedy

SANTIAGO, Chile.- Costanera Center Tower, the iconic 300-meter tall skyscraper that stands

Santiago de Chile

As a symbol of the country's economic development, it has taken on a new meaning thanks to a number that triggers sound alerts:
12 people committed suicide in the last time, which
two happened last month.

The Costanera Center Tower is the tallest in South America and inside the building is Chile's largest shopping center. But since
opened in 2012, more than a dozen people were launched from the tower or from different floors of the mall.

This year, there were four suicides, which sparked strong controversy in social networks. For example, an employee of the mall said that she had witnessed two suicides in less than a month: "I think it's unheard of not having yet put safety nets "she said.

The last known case was a person who launched from the Starbucks store who is in the food court and fell next to the Easy store. Given this situation, security personnel were covering the body and business activity was continuing normally, according to the local newspaper El Universal.

Suicide rate

According to Ministry of Health figures for 2017, the suicide rate in Chile is 10.23 per 100,000 inhabitants. In this way, estimates of the Costanera Center are not yet important. But a study by the Chilean Legal Medical Service indicated that suicide was the second leading cause of violent death in the country after road accidents. It's also one of the countries with high depression that has been registered in 5% of the population, according to a 2017 report from the World Health Organization (WHO).

In this scenario, different specialists escape certain interpretations of the suicides that occurred at Costanera Center. For example, the sociologist of the University of Santiago, Alberto Mayol, explained that in modern societies, it is common to find cases of anomic suicide, based on the feeling of social disintegration.

"In

Chile

it is very clear that people feel integrated to the extent that they participate in the market. "For him, the Costanera Center is an" integrative temple of the consumer society "and an established place as a center. integration, by What could be a message of "those who are in a state of disintegration of this society where consumption is so important."

Far from this badysis, Alex Behn, a professor at the Catholic University and director of research at the Millennium Institute for Depression and Personality Research, said that "most suicides in Chile do not occur in these conditions.

"High rates of depression are very likely to be related to genetic factors, but they are also due to high debt levels, income inequality, inhumane travel times, or low wages, "said Behn.

AFP Agency

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