A Cork fire officer has described witnessing people video a drowning man as a “horrific situation”. 

33-year-old Luke Hyde died after he got into difficulty while swimming at Pope's Quay in Cork city centre on Wednesday. 

Emergency services were called out and fireman Victor Shine spoke to Lunchtime Live about what they saw when their vehicles pulled up. 

“When we arrived on scene, there were literally hundreds of people on both sides of the quays and lining the bridges witnessing the event that had taken place,” he said. 

“To the main, they were live streaming it, photographing it and sharing it on social media - which is a horrific situation to have encountered for the family and friends of the deceased.” 

Mr Shine said such behaviour was not a one off. 

“I think it’s becoming more common for people to stop and video rather than stop and help,” he said. 

“They want to get the best footage, they want to get it up on social media as quickly as possible and be the first to get all the live streams. 

“It’s not a good thing to encountering; it’s causing problems to us too in our operations because we have to move people.”

Main image: A firefighter. Picture by: Alamy.com