A MAN died by suicide on Monday afternoon by jumping into the sea at the Port of Spain Waterfront, leaving eyewitnesses deeply aggrieved, they told Newsday.

Witnesses said Amrit Doogah, 34, of Seventh Avenue, Malik, clambered onto the seawall a stone's throw from the Chalet Du Femmes and jumped into the waves, drowning within minutes. Newsday was told that a fishing boat was first on the scene, with fishermen pulling him out and trying to revive him even as he was frothing at the mouth owing to the inhalation of seawater into his lungs.

The police arrived afterwards.

Eyewitnesses said the man succumbed to his injuries.

Two eyewitnesses said they had never seen him before.

The man was described as being tall and thin, of East Indian descent, and about 40 years old.

An eyewitness said the man was in an agitated state, characterised by pacing up and down and not interacting with people trying to help him.

When Newsday arrived, all that was left of the man's presence was his pair of black flip-flops discarded offhandedly under the blazing sun, yards away from a clump of bright green vegetation at the seawall where he had jumped from into the sparkling waters.

Nearby, scores of public service office-workers streamed home, civilly entering the elevator up into the walkway, oblivious to what had happened just yards away and hours before.

Newsday spoke to two witnesses who were both in a state of shock. They were reticent to talk and did not give their names.

The first witness said he had seen the man pacing up and down in an anguished state of mind since morning. He had offered the man a drink of juice but the man had been in his own little world, disengaged from anyone else.

"I always try to reach out to people – offer them a little juice or something – but he wasn't saying anything."

The witness was shocked when the man jumped and he remained deeply aggrieved hours later.

"I am just mentally recuperating from this right now. I don't think I could speak.

"He jumped. He was agitated from all this morning."

He said the fishermen did their best to save him.

"He couldn't swim. A boat was coming and they pulled him out."

The witness reckoned the man had not died from the the impact of hitting the water but by drowning. He said people had tried to resuscitate him, but to no avail.

"He looked like there was something wrong with him."

He was personally upset that the man had defied the scriptural injunction to not end one's own life.

The source did not agree with Newsday's suggestion to erect a fence along the waterfront, but urged the deployment of security guards and maybe life guards.

"Boats dock so there is no need to put up a fence. Just have some security guards there."

A woman told Newsday she was in the vicinity but although she had not witnessed the death, upon learning of the tragedy she had wept.

"He was here walking up and down. Then somebody said 'He jumped off', so I started to cry."

She said the man had been pacing the area, mentally preoccupied but not telling any