Hong Kong - Police in Hong Kong were Friday trying to trace the creator of a second Chinese-language Facebook group calling for its members to commit mass suicide. The second group sprang up shortly after another group, which called on its almost 190 members to commit mass suicide on December 21, was taken down by the internet networking site.
Now a second group has appeared on Facebook, according to Chinese-language newspapers Friday, which makes an apparent appeal to its 98 members to commit mass suicide.
The group's page reads: "What is the meaning of life? The person you love is in love with someone else ... Adults are always right. We are always wrong. Why don't we just die together?"
The investigation into the first group was started after a 15-year-old member of the group was stopped by friends as she tried to throw herself off the roof of her Hong Kong school a fortnight ago.
Police Thursday traced the founder of the group, a schoolgirl who claimed the suicide threat was "done for fun" and not meant to be taken seriously.
Hong Kong's Commercial Crime Bureau was Friday investigating the Facebook groups as schools across the city of 7 million were contacted to watch out for signs of suicidal students.
Youth suicide rates are notoriously high in wealthy Hong Kong, with experts saying the pressure to achieve good grades in school and emotionally detached parents are partly to blame.
Hong Kong's overall suicide rate has fallen markedly in recent years thanks to initiatives such as erecting suicide barriers on tall buildings and putting helpline labels on packets of charcoal.
After jumping from high buildings, burning charcoal in a confined space to produce carbon monoxide is one of the most common suicide methods in Hong Kong.
