Photo: Getty Images
Two surviving passengers of a plane crash went viral after taking a selfie from the site of the collision.
Enrique Varsi-Rospigliosi was among the passengers on the Latam Airlines plane that collided with a firetruck at Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru on November 18.
Varsi-Rospigliosi shared a selfie of himself covered in snow alongside a female passenger standing in front of the crashed Latam Airlines plane with a caption that translates to "When life gives you a second chance #latam."
The tweet has received more than 200,000 likes from Twitter users in awe of two people surviving a frightening near-death experience, but was also met criticism as they were -- unknowingly at the time -- standing at the site where two firefighters inside the truck had died.
Video captured from the scene shows LATAM A320 NEO plane collide with a fire truck entering the runway.
Several critics shared their displeasure of the selfie being taken in front of the site of a deadly accident.
One member of a popular Facebook aviation group commented that the photo was "unbelievable," while another said it was a "bad taste selfie," according to News.com.au.
“Nothing to be proud of, firefighters died,” added a third commenter.
"Two firefighters die but sure, take a selfie and laugh,” a fourth wrote.
Some commenters in the group defended the two passengers.
“I get it, they are happy because they are alive,” one wrote. “People are just taking it the wrong way and getting offended for anything these days.
“Think about it, you realised you’ve just survived an aeroplane crash, then suddenly it catches fire, and on top of it you are able to walk away from it unscratched? I’d be the happiest and most thankful person alive!”
“In the moment they took the picture, only a few people knew that two firefighters had died. They thought it was a problem with the aeroplane," another added. “Media took, at least, an hour and a half to report what really happened. Even firefighters from Lima didn’t know for the first hour. They just felt thankful for being alive.”