Public urged not to take ‘ghoulish’ photos at crash scenes

The fire services in Waterford have said emergency crew members were "astounded" by the number of people who attempted to capture video and images of a fatal road incident in which a two-year-old girl died.

Daenerys Crosbie, was struck by a lorry on Manor Street in Waterford city shortly after 10am yesterday.

Her mother, Carole-Ann Crosbie (30), suffered minor injuries.

Both were taken by ambulance to University Hospital Waterford and the girl was pronounced dead a short time later.

In a post on its Facebook page today, Waterford City Fire Service said the crew at the scene "were astounded by the number of people trying to capture the incident on their phones".

It said this had been an “ongoing trend for a number of years now”.

It was “never better illustrated” than at a recent road crash.

“A man (in his thirties, not a teenager) crept up, phone poised and recording, to within 10ft or so of a car where we were trying to extricate the driver while the ambulance crew were treating him. The driver died en route to hospital.”

The post continued: “Why do people do this? It’s ghoulish, thoughtless and extremely distasteful.

“ We could fill this page with photos of the injured and dead that we see. But we don’t. Sometimes it’s enough to know that horrible things happen without having to see them.

“Most obviously there’s the matter of respect for the dignity of the people involved and the desire of paramount importance to not add to the grief and anguish felt by their families and friends.

“So if you know somebody who considers this kind of thing alright ask them to think about it just a little more.”

The post said the fire service “walk a straight line” on its social media page, “trying not to criticise or condemn” but that following the inicident in Manor Street it was “time to weigh in on this”.

Chairman of the Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association John Kidd said members of the public taking images in such situations was “widespread”.

He said it was also common for members of the public to take out their phones while driving, in order to capture images of crashes on motorways and other roads.

“First of all they are putting themselves at risk. Secondly, they should ask themselves if it was their child would they like to see those images on social media?”

“Families already go through to much trauma. And some of our colleagues do cry (at such scenes). You are taking pictures of people who are operating in a very difficult environment.”

Gardaí have asked witnesses to the fatal incident in Waterford to contact them.