Wed | Oct 15, 2025

Stop rolling those cameras

Published:Friday | April 15, 2011 | 12:00 AM

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Fatal crashes are fairly common occurrences on our roads, with people being killed, in many instances, in a ghastly manner.

On many occasions, the corpses of these victims remain uncovered for hours at the accident scene. And, a most disturbing development in recent times are the people who quickly converge on the scene, photograph or video the victims with cellphones, and easily transmit to a global audience.

Gory pictures of these tragedies are sometimes all over the place, even before the families of the victims are informed of the loss of their loved ones. This, no doubt, adds to their pain, hurt and anguish. This sad state of affairs has not been remedied by a television station which has become notorious for repellent scenes shown during newscasts. The recent tragedy in which three students of Holmwood Technical were killed along the Bryce main road in Manchester is a case in point.

One can only appeal to our higher sense of human decency and morality, for the people involved to refrain from these insensitive practices. It would also prove practical for members of emergency units, ambulances, fire brigade and the police to travel with the necessary fabric or material to the scenes of crashes, so that they can, when indicated, cover these bodies.

The display of basic respect towards the dead is also a measure of our civility and is, simply, the right thing to do.

I am, etc.,

D.R. F acey

DR.Facey@gmail.com