Police and rescue workers converge on the Tumwater Truck Route beneath the western Eighth Street bridge after witnesses said a man leaped from the span Wednesday afternoon. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)

Police and rescue workers converge on the Tumwater Truck Route beneath the western Eighth Street bridge after witnesses said a man leaped from the span Wednesday afternoon. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)

Witnesses tell police they saw man jump from Eighth Street bridge in Port Angeles

PORT ANGELES — A man in his early 30s fell to his death from the western Eighth Street bridge over the Tumwater Truck Route on Wednesday, Port Angeles police said.

Police would not identify the man because his family had not been notified, Chief of Police Brian Smith said.

Police received multiple reports about the fall from the bridge at about 3:30 p.m.

Witnesses said they saw a man jumping from the top of the 98-foot-tall span on the south side of West Eighth Street, Smith said.

The man landed on the southbound lane of Tumwater Truck Route.

The truck route was closed from West Lauridsen Boulevard to South Marine Drive until 4:51 p.m.

Anyone who witnessed the man fall and was not interviewed by police Wednesday is asked to phone the Port Angeles Police Department at 360-452-4545.

Six people — three men and three women — have fallen to their deaths from the two Eighth Street bridges since they were replaced in February 2009.

Most recently, 49-year-old Paul Gerald Sutherland of Port Angeles fell from the north side of the western bridge on June 8.

The original bridges over the Tumwater and Valley Creek canyons had 7-foot, 8-inch fences that were added in 1959 to prevent suicide attempts.

The new bridges have 4-foot, 6-inch railings.

________

Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.

Reporters Jesse Major and Paul Gottlieb contributed to this report.

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