Internet chat room saved man's life

A suicidal man, 34, who had filled himself with drugs, was saved after internet chatroomers launched a rapid investigation to find him.

The unconscious man was found by police who broke into his house in Bruges after a speedy investigation by people in an internet chat room.

The man had appeared in the chat room saying he was lonely and was asking about the best pills to take to kill himself.

The people in the chat room frantically pieced together his identity and tipped off police who found his flat.

One of the man's rescuers, 'Anja', told the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper that she had panicked when the man told her he wanted to kill himself.

"When he stopped answering my questions, I alerted people in other chat rooms," she said.

She contacted Jeroen Van den Bosche, a Brussels security officer who, by talking to others in the chat room, managed to find the man's website and his name. Using more information they tracked him down to Bruges and tipped off the police.

Van den Bosche said it was amazing that the untrained members of the chat room were able to locate the suicidal man, as no one in the group knew each other's real names.