NBC weatherman Al Roker apologized for a selfie he posted while reporting near a collapsed highway in South Carolina during deadly flooding over the weekend.
Roker took the photo of himself and his coworkers smiling, with the wreckage of a car caught in the collapse visible in the background. Roker was reporting on flooding that has killed nine people so far.
Shortly after the image was posted Twitter, many of the social media platform’s users expressed outrage at what they characterized as insensitivity of the picture, which Roker promptly deleted and supplemented with an apology.
“Absolutely correct,” he wrote. “I apologize for being insensitive. The woman in that car got out without injury. We should not have been in the picture.”
In a followup tweet, Roker wrote, “We came down to report and I offended those who lost so much. I am sorry.”
See Roker’s selfie and tweeted apology below.
Absolutely correct. I apologize for being insensitive. The woman in that car got out without injury. We Should not have been in the picture
— Al Roker (@alroker) October 5, 2015
We came down to report and I offended those who lost so much. I am sorry — Al Roker (@alroker) October 5, 2015
