The City of New Orleans is asking citizens not to share photos of the exposed remains of a construction worker that died in a building collapse in October.
The Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans' French Quarter, which was under construction at the time, partially collapsed on Oct. 12, killing three people. Due to the location of the remains and lack of stability in the structure, officials were unable to recover two of the three bodies.
Instead, officials put up a tarp to obscure the public's view of one of the victim's remains.
On Tuesday, WWL-TV in New Orleans reports that the tarp covering the remains fell down, exposing the victim's legs.
In a statement to WGNO-TV New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell asked citizens not to photograph or share images of the remains.
"The condition of the building and the altitude above street level complicate efforts to replace the tarp, as they have prevented recovery thus far," Cantrell said. "To be clear: capturing or sharing images of the victims in such a condition is irresponsible, it is indefensible, and it is not who we are as New Orleanians. Out of respect to the victims and their families, and in the name of basic common decency: we urge news outlets, residents, and social media users to have nothing to do with making a tragic situation needlessly worse."
The city imploded two unstable cranes attached to the building in October.
In November, the city announced that it would demolish the entire building in a controlled implosion. The remains would then be collected following the implosion.
Days later, the developers of the site announced that they would still demolish the building, but they did not want to do so in a controlled explosion, citing safety concerns.
However, Cantrell
said last week
that the city would continue with a controlled implosion, though the process will now not be completed until March.
