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Selfies Taken At East Village Blast Site Draw Harsh Criticism Online

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Selfies taken near the site of the East Village explosion are sparking outrage on the Internet.

A group of smiling women used a selfie stick to take a photo with the blast site as a backdrop. The picture, labeled "Village Idiots" by the New York Post, was captured by a passing photographer Friday night.

Selfies Taken At East Village Blast Site Draw Harsh Criticism On The Internet

It was just one of several selfies taken near the explosion site.

A former Obama campaign aid was criticized after posting a selfie on Instagram of herself flashing a smile and peace sign near the scene, 1010 WINS' John Montone reported.

She has since deleted the image and apologized, calling it "careless and distasteful."

Montone went to the East Village on Monday morning to find out what people in the neighborhood thought of the selfies.

"Why do they need to be in that scene doing something that has nothing to do with them except for the fact that they might feel some remorse for it, but is that an expression of remorse?" one woman said.

A man pointed to Montone's microphone, saying: "That's part of the problem. Everybody wants to be part of something."

"This is the same impulse, you want to be heard, but that is a perverted sense of that impulse," he added. "It's like people have no understanding of the pain and suffering other people may be going through."

"I completely agree with that front page, 'Village Idiots,'" another man said. "Maybe that will make them think a little bit."

The explosion and fire that leveled three apartment buildings at Second Avenue and East Seventh Street left two people dead and 22 others injured Thursday. The cause of the blast is under investigation, but city officials suspect there was a gas leak.

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