As he tried to find off attempts by the emergency services to rescue him from the third level of the Phra Mahathat Chedi, a tower structure in Phuket’s Wat (temple) Chalong, a Russian tourist fell to his death yesterday (Friday).

The 4-hour drama began at about 5.30pm and was witnessed by tourists and Phuket Governor Narong Woonsiew, who rushed to the scene to supervise officials in their failed attempts to talk the man down.

The tourist, whose identity has not been released, climbed to the third level of Chedi, about 20 metres from the ground, for unknown reasons. He was seen loitering there, standing and sitting alternately and occasionally drinking water from a bottle.

Emergency services were called to the temple to try to talk him down or convince him to jump onto an airbag, but without success. The tourist was reported to have asked for some water.

A ladder was brought to the scene, to enable the man to climb down, but he pushed it away.

After almost four hours, emergency workers decided to approach him and bring him down, as he appeared to look tired. After a brief struggle, he managed to free himself and jumped to the ground below.

The severely injured man was rushed to the Wachira Phuket Hospital, but he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Wat Chalong is the largest and perhaps most revered temple in Phuket. The most obvious structure in the temple is the Phra Mahathat Chedi, which is said to contain bone relics of the Lord Buddha.