Taipei  - A Taiwanese woman jumped from a building's rooftop alledgedly to commit suicide on Saturday, but landed on and killed a passer-by, a newspaper said on Sunday.

Kuo Mei-hui, 64, lept from the rooftop of a five-storey apartment building in Chungho City near Taipei at about two pm Saturday, but landed on 53-year-old Lee Mei-yun who was returning home with her husband, the Liberty Times reported.

Kuo and Lee both fell to the ground and were seriously injured. Lee suffered from brain hemorrhage and died in hospital.

Kuo's neighbors told police that Kuo has been ill for a long time and has attempted suicide several times.

Taiwan has one of the highest suicide rates in Asia. In 2007, 3,933 Taiwanese killed themselves, averaging 10.7 suicides per day or one suicide every two hours. The suicide rate was 17.2 suicides per every 100,000 population.

In recent years, there have been several cases of Taiwanese leaping from tall buildings to commit suicide but not landing on, injuring or killing the passers-by.

Japan has the highest suicide rate in Asia. In 2007, 33,093 Japanese took their own lives, averaging 90 suicides per day or one suicide every 20 minutes. (dpa)