Detectives are investigating a suspected murder-suicide after a man fell to his death from the top floor of a city centre hotel as another guest was found dead inside.
A man in his 20s was pronounced dead after falling from a fifth-floor window at the Britannia hotel in Manchester city centre at 5.30am on Wednesday.
Police officers later discovered the body of a second man after gaining entry to a room on the first floor of the Grade II-listed hotel.
A guest at the hotel, who did not want to be named, said a man had been killed on the first floor before a man in his 20s then “ran up to the fifth floor and jumped”.
Another guest, Patricia Kennedy, 56, said: “The policeman who came to our door said there was an incident on the first floor and he came up and jumped from the fifth floor.”
Kennedy, from Wicklow in Ireland, was staying in a room on the same floor and said she saw a large smashed window on the landing near a set of lifts.
Greater Manchester police said officers were treating the man’s death in the room as suspicious and that both fatalities were linked. They confirmed that officers were not looking for anyone else in connection with the deaths.
DCI Amber Waywell, of GMP’s major incident team, said: “The investigation is still in its early stages but we are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with this incident.”
James Milner, from Hull, said he had returned to the hotel from an awards dinner and that the roads had been taped off by police but the fifth floor, where he was staying, had not been at that stage.
He told the Manchester Evening News: “The roads were all taped off and full of police outside when I arrived back and the hotel was checking for proof of residency at the door to get in.
“This morning I left my room and the lift area was all taped off, the window was wide open and the curtains blowing and there was an iPhone on the floor with headphones plugged in. I gave my details to the police and that’s all I saw.”
Smashed glass surrounded a white forensic tent where the man’s body was found on Silver Street, at the back of the hotel, where scenes of crime officers worked throughout the day.
A white curtain could be seen billowing through the smashed fifth-floor window. Waywell said: “We are continuing to investigate the circumstances of this incident and a scene remains in place on Silver Street.
“I would urge anyone with information that could assist our investigation to please get in touch as soon as possible.”
• In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
