An unsympathetic crowd in the Chinese city of Chongqing jeered a man who had taken a hostage to kill himself after he let the victim go. 

As seen on video and photos posted to the Internet, Gong Tseng, 30, held his cousin, Cui Meng, 29, hostage at knife point outside a local KFC fast-food restaurant after what reports call a family dispute, Gong held knives over the other man's throat and heart. In one photo, a panicked Cui can be seen talking to someone on his phone, later revealed to be his grandfather. 

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"The man who seized me is my cousin and I was calling our grandfather to make him let me go," Cui later told reporters.

Police quickly arrived at the scene and managed to talk Gong into releasing Cui, whereupon Gong slumped to the sidewalk and held the knife to his own throat. A large crowd of curious onlookers gathered, prompting authorities to set up a security perimeter.

As law enforcement tried to talk Gong down, several in the crowd can be heard growing impatient.

"Get on with it, we don't have all day!" one yelled.

"Come on, we're fed up with waiting," shouted another.

Gong eventually dropped his blades and was taken into custody on charges of grievous bodily harm.

Earlier this year, China saw an unprecedented spike in its suicide rate when Beijing banned all terrestrial burials in the country beyond June 1, claiming they took up too much space in China's rapidly expanding cities. Several elderly killed themselves in order for their burials to follow traditional rites. However, the Chinese citizenry has come to regard public suicide spectacles such as the one in Chongqing with a high degree of skepticism. 

Rather than seen as genuine cries for help, such incidents are regarded as attention-generating stunts that succeed only in snarling up commuters and transportation networks. 

TagsHostage, Chongqing, KFC