The Marin County coroner’s office reports that 32 people committed suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge last year, similar numbers to the past two years.

31 people died last year and 34 in 2008.

“All told, the real number of suicide deaths at the Gate now exceeds 1,400, more than any other single location in the world,” said coroner Ken Holmes.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the latest deaths occurred while the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District attempts to raise $50 million for construction of a suicide barrier that was approved in 2008.

“This report means the tragedies continue and the urgency of getting this resolved increases,” said Paul Muller, co-founding member of the Bridge Rail Foundation, a consortium of advocates who support the barrier.

The planned barrier would consist of a net designed to catch jumpers. Mary Currie, a spokeswoman for the bridge district, tells the Chronicle that “the final design process is under way, but that the district has not found the money to build the barrier.”

According to a study that investigated bridge deaths from 1994 to 2009, about 83 percent of those who jump are Bay Area residents.

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Photo Credit: Keith Mizuguchi

• Tag: deaths, Golden Gate Bridge, suicides