Friends and family members succeeded on Tuesday in talking a mother of two out of jumping off a 15-meter-tall metal art installation in central Athens's Omonia Square.

The 35-year-old is deaf and has two children. She threatened to commit suicide because she is unemployed and her disability benefits have been cut, police said.

Rescue workers, together with friends and family of the woman, managed to convince her to come down from the installation with the help of a firefighting ladder.

According to data presented on Tuesday by Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias, some 837 suicide attempts have been recorded in Greece since May 2010.