"Siege selfie"
Outrage in Australia as locals snap selfies near hostage crisis
Social networks aflame after Australians share smiling selfies from Martin Place, near café where several dozens still held hostage.
Even as their fellow countrymen were under siege in a Sydney café on Monday, some Australians gathered in a nearby square to snap selfies and drink beer by the scene of a developing hostage crisis.
The pictures being shared from Martin Place have been tagged as "siege selfies." According to Australian channel News9, one picture they received showed three men smiling in front of police tape cordoning off the area while another showed two women smiling with the square in the background.
The Australian media engaged in a raging debate over the "outrageous" pictures being shared from Martin Place. The photos, uploaded to both social and traditional media, showed hundreds of locals attempting to shoot the ongoing events.
Several locals were seen swigging alcoholic beverages and smiling away as they snapped pictures mere meters away from fellow citizens who are holed up in a café, fearing for their lives.
According to News9, Australian social media was abuzz with anger following the morbid trend. One Twitter user mocked the tag, urging those partaking to go to the square instead of being "grateful that you're not caught up in a hostage nightmare."
Another user wandered whether the selfie snappers "have any feelings."
