Elderly Greek kills himself in central Athens over debt

An elderly Greek man has shot and killed himself outside parliament in central Athens, reportedly crying out that he did not want to leave his children in debt.

The 77-year-old killed himself outside the Syntagma square metro station on Wednesday, around a hundred meters (yards) from parliament, a focal point of anti-austerity protests during the past two years.

Witnesses say they heard the man crying out that he did not want to leave his children in debt. The number of suicides has surged in Greece since the 2009 financial crisis.

Depression and suicides have increased in the debt-ridden country amid an economic crisis that has sent unemployment soaring, and salaries and pensions sinking. Hundreds of thousands of Greeks have lost their jobs over the last year.

In order to receive a EUR 130 billion loan, funded mostly by eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund, Greece had to adopt harsh austerity measures including massive cuts to its private and public sector wages, pensions, health and defense spending.

Prior to the Greek economic downturn which began in 2008, suicide rates in Greece were among the lowest in the European Union, at only 2.8 per 100.00 denizens.

This comes while Greeks are forced to endure a fifth consecutive year of recession with the debt crisis deepening, cuts taking their toll and unemployment surging.

Meanwhile, officials insist that the belt-tightening and structural reforms under way will eventually change the EU’s most uncompetitive economy for the better.