A naked man survived a 278ft leap off Brooklyn Bridge after telling his friend 'life is boring'. Galymzhan Abaildayev, 44, is in hospital facing charges.
Leap of 80 metres
Galymzhan Abaildayev, 44, is currently in hospital after diving off the Brooklyn Bridge in New York earlier this week. The nude drop into the city's East River landed Abaildayev with charges including reckless endangerment, making graffiti, public lewdness, criminal trespass and disorderly conduct.
Kazakhstan native Abaildayev was fished out of the river by giant hooks by the New York Police Department after he dived in front of screaming onlookers.
Friend's account
"He was telling me he was going to do it," Josh Karadag, 43, Abaildayev's roommate, told the New York Post. "Yesterday was his birthday."
Karadag said the pair had formed a strong bond over their shared homelands and said Abaildayev was "crazy" over the politics back in their country.
Political concerns
Karadag described his mate as "very respectful", but someone who was deeply troubled about the country's prime minister Oljas Bektenov. "The only thing that makes him crazy is the politics in Kazakhstan," he said.
The day before he leapt into East River, Abaildayev railed against social media "erasing videos about political stuff with the Kazakh prime minister," according to Karadag.
Aftermath
The pair also live with Abaildayev's girlfriend who is now distraught over the incident. "I saw his girlfriend outside this morning," Karadag recalled. "She was too upset."
Abaildayev climbed the north tower of the Brooklyn Bridge, on the Manhattan side, around 2:30pm on Monday August 3. He attached multiple flags to the top of the bridge before scaling the north tower on the Manhattan side. He is yet to be arraigned.
