NEW YORK - A Canadian man plunged 65 floors to his death from atop the Empire State Building after allegedly telling a security guard, ''I don't want to live any more.''
The 19-year-old, identified as Sylvain Laverriere of Montreal, had recently broken up with his girlfriend, police said Friday.
Laverriere managed to climb over the tall barriers on the 86th floor observation deck of the landmark building around 9:15 p.m. Thursday. He fell 65 stories to an outcropping on the 21st floor.
The observation deck closes 11 p.m. Police said there were a few people there. Some apparently saw him climb the barriers but it happened too quickly for them to stop him. Police said a security guard told them the man had said he didn't want to live.
Laverriere had arrived in the city from Quebec on Wednesday. It was not immediately known why he came to New York. Police had described him as wearing a pirate-like outfit: loose white shirt, tight dark pants and boots.
The last time a person jumped off the Empire State was in 1988. There have been more than 30 suicides at the 1,250-foot skyscraper since it opened in 1931. It remained the world's tallest building until the 1970s.
Most of those who have leaped to their deaths never made it to the street, landing instead on one of the building's setbacks.