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A man on a train servicing spring festival travelers suffered a mental breakdown on Jan. 26, causing a commotion that prompted train authorities to escort him out at the nearest train stop near Wuhu.
Reports say the man was on board L594 train from Wenzhou to Xi'an. After sitting for 13 hours, witnesses say the man suddenly lost control of himself, started yelling that his "neck hurt," that he had "been poisoned," and that "people were trying to kill" him.
Railroad employees tried to restrain the man until the train stopped near Wuhu where he was handed over to local police. Local authorities believe that the man was suffering from "Long Distance Train Syndrome," a psychotic episode brought about by being on a train too long.
Deputy chief Liu said they calmed the man down by talking about trivial matters until they gained his trust enough to say who his relatives were. However, relatives were unable to immediately fetch the man so the police placed him in a monitored room for the night.
He had several more "episodes" throughout the night, kept climbing up the walls and even tried to jump from the building. But police were able to prevent the man from hurting himself and safely turned him over to his family the next day.
