KUALA LUMPUR: When it dawned several years ago, the era of the selfie brought in tow a strange, new kind of shutterbug: the disaster tourist.
The selfie-seeking, ‘likes’-hungry travellers would engage in the morally dubious activity of posing at the sites of accidents or major disasters – even while search and rescue missions are ongoing – and snap photos which are quickly published on social media platforms.
According to a recent report by the UK’s The Guardian, disaster tourists are out in full force at the site of last week’s tsunami, particularly in the badly-hit town of Banten, in Java.
Scores were seen surveying the flattened, wreckage-strewn landscape of the coastal town, looking for the perfect spot to take a selfie.
A group of women in multi-coloured hijabs were seen posing with sweet smiles – one sporting a “kawaii” V finger peace sign – for a wefie against the backdrop of a flooded field littered with smashed cars and wrecked farm equipment.
Bodies may still have been among the detritus.
The women were among many who had travelled from far afield to the area in hopes, perhaps, that the disaster site’s limelight, shone by the international news media, would rub off on them.
Never mind the 426 people who were killed and 1,500 who were injured. Bragging rights for online fame is paramount.
The most popular spot for selfie-takers in Banten is a short stretch of beach and damaged road where many bodies have washed up since the Anak Krakatau volcanic eruption-triggered landslide struck on Dec 22. The selfie-takers seem oblivious to recovery operations taking place all around them.
The Guardian noted one woman wearing army-style camouflage clothes who had spent an hour wading in knee-high water trying to take a perfect selfie next to a crumpled SUV.
Meanwhile, an 18-year-old who had made a three-hour journey from Jakarta, was seen taking picture after picture. When asked how many she had shot, the teenager laughed heartily and said: “A lot! For social media, WhatsApp groups…,” while scrolling through a cascade of images in her mobile phone’s photo album.