Bystanders are taking selfies at the site of the Sydney siege
As the Sydney hostage crisis unfolds,social media users have been called 'messed up' and 'insensitive' for taking selfies at the scene and posting them online.
Several bystanders - mostly tourists and shoppers - took photos of themselves standing in Martin's Place near the Lindt Chocolate Café where a gunman has taken at least 15 people hostage.
The selfies have been uploaded to Twitter and Instagram where the backlash has already begun.
One of the selfie-takers even used the tag #hostagesituationselfie.
There's a time and a place for a #selfie and #sydneysiege is definitely not one of them: http://t.co/pVZE3sdC8N pic.twitter.com/2r6nJGHJT3
— Torny Miller (@torny_miller) December 15, 2014
Love a selfie but HOW is this OK? RT@nycjim:Bystanders taking selfies at scene of #SydneySiege http://t.co/1NP5qYfrF1 pic.twitter.com/9GLzF5nZ7M
— GemmaTognini (@GemmaTognini) December 15, 2014
Predictably, their actions have been widely condemned.
My brother lives in Sydney, maybe I should send him to start punching the cafe selfie takers... :) #sydneysiege
— Scott Lovegrove (@scottisafool) December 15, 2014
One of them actually uses the hashtag #hostagesituationselfie. I am lost for words (via @mkarolian) #sydneysiege. http://t.co/APDgG1L84H
— Jennifer O'Connell (@jenoconnell) December 15, 2014
Selfie-taking from the rubber-neckers in the Sydney Siege is gross.
— Georgie Young (@georgieby) December 15, 2014
Others took a less dim view, sayng they were just letting normal life carry on.
