Amelia Bambridge: Images of drowned backpacker's body shared on social media

Sunday, 3 November 2019 15:48

The family of a backpacker who was found dead in Cambodia this week has urged people not to share images of her body on social media.

Amelia Bambridge's body was discovered in waters near the Thai border - about 62 miles from where she went missing.

Hours later, pictures of the 21-year-old's arm, covered in sand, appeared on Facebook and Instagram.

Harry Bambridge, Amelia's brother, has said he is disgusted that the images have been circulating - and said they had been seen by their 11-year-old nephew.

Facebook, which owns Instagram, said it has clear rules against posting graphic content.

The social network is understood to have started to remove the offending images after being alerted to them, but users have continued to post the picture.

A Facebook spokesman said: We're saddened by the news about Amelia Bambridge and our thoughts go out to her family and friends.

We have clear rules against posting graphic content, when we are made aware of this content we remove it.

People often use Facebook and Instagram to share stories in the news and this can result in content appearing that some may find upsetting.

Facebook says it bans content which includes images of dying, wounded or dead people who are dismembered, burned or the victims of cannibalism.

It is understood Facebook will remove photographs of dead people if asked by a family member or authorised person.

Harry revealed on Thursday he had seen Amelia's body as he apologised to friends and family for not bringing her back alive.

In a Facebook post, he added: I'm sorry to you Amelia, the round is on me when we meet again in heaven.

On Friday, Cambodian officials said a post-mortem of her body confirmed she drowned.

She had gone missing from a beach party on the Cambodian island of Koh Rong on 24 October.

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