Teen live-tweets suicide on Weibo

This photo shows a charcoal fire pan that a teenager uses to commit suicide and broadcaste live on his microblog on November 30. (Photo: xinhuanet)

(ECNS) -- A 19-year-old boy committed suicide on Sunday in Luzhou, Southwest China's Sichuan province, after his one-week online foreign girlfriend severed ties with him.

Surnamed Zeng, the boy posted dozens of updates on his Sina Weibo account from 10 pm on November 29 until 7 am on November 30, saying he planned to end his life due to depression following the breakup.

The heartbroken boy's tweets aroused many comments from users on Weibo, the Chinese microblogging site akin to Twitter. People desperately tried to persuade him not to take his own life.

Despite their efforts and those of his former girlfriend, Zeng said on his Weibo account at 7:48 pm November 30 that he had made up his mind.

Around midnight, he posted a tweet saying he was going to die as the sleeping pills he had swallowed were taking effect. At 12:23 am, a tweet said, "Sorry, farewell", while at 12:31 am, he posted a message reading, "It is really over as there is little oxygen left", alongside a picture of a burning charcoal brazier.

He posted his last tweet at 12:34 am, saying "You defriended me at the last minute (of my life)".

With the help of Weibo users analyzing information Zeng had left online, police in Luzhou were able to find him. The boy was sent to hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after due to the ingestion of sleeping pills and carbon monoxide poisoning.

According to Zeng's grandmother, who had raised him, his parents had divorced when he was two years old. His father left Luzhou for Shenzhen, a major industrial hub in Guangdong province, while his mother re-married and left Luzhou for Hainan province several years later.

Netizens have responded in various ways. Most have revealed shock that a boy of just 19 ended his life in this way. Some called him a silly a boy, questioning his education and his inability to save his own life.

"According to what we can see on his Weibo account, Zeng's lack of care from his family and friends made it impossible for him to express his anxieties," said Liu Jian, a psychology consultant in Luzhou.

"Posting tweets was a way to get the despair off his chest and to a certain extent, the attention his behavior generated may have relieved his feeling of deep emptiness. However, people cannot do this at the cost of their life," Liu added.