London Hilton shuts balconies after second suicide
The London Hilton on Park Lane has permanently locked all its bedroom balcony doors following a second suicide leap from the 28-floor building.
An inquest heard last week how 30-year-old Ajay Goyal, the successful director of a cosmetics company, jumped to his death from a room on the 14th floor of the hotel on 11 September, two days after he had changed his mind about leaping from a room he had booked on the 20th floor.
Goyal, who had complained of depression in June, was admitted to East Ham Memorial Hospital on 10 September where he was treated for panic attacks and suicidal urges.
But he discharged himself the next day and returned to the hotel, where he booked another room and asked security guard Andrea Hales to open the balcony.
He jumped at 4.30pm and was killed instantly when his body hit the fourth-floor roof.
A similar tragedy occurred at the 446-bedroom hotel in July 1999 when a 55-year-old artist hurled himself from a luxury suite on the 25th floor.
The Hilton has bedroom balconies stretching between the fifth and 27th floors. It follows council guidelines that demand bedroom windows and doors are locked.
A spokeswoman said that guests can open windows up to two or three inches to let in fresh air. But the second death has prompted the hotel to drop its policy of allowing senior security staff to open balcony doors at guests' request.
