A reporter in eastern China has been fired after posing playfully at the scene of a highway accident on Wednesday, reported the website of Party-affiliated paper People’s Daily. The 30-car pileup killed 18 people, and even more are still receiving medical treatment.

The reporter from a local radio station, surnamed Ling, was snapped grinning and flashing the V-sign, or peace sign, at the scene of the accident in Anhui province. The photos were posted to microblog platform Weibo on Wednesday afternoon, where they immediately sparked netizen ire.

“No one with a conscience would laugh like she did at such a scene,” reads one upvoted comment on Weibo. “Not to mention that she is a journalist.” Others ridiculed the reporter as fame-seeking.

“The reporter’s improper conduct has had a severe impact on society,” the person in charge of the radio station told the People’s Daily website. The station also suspended another employee, who headed the channel Ling worked for. According to the report, Ling uploaded a video apology to social media on Wednesday evening.

With more than half of the country’s population online, the internet has become an empowering tool for public participation in supervision and accountability. In September 2016, a journalist was suspended after netizens criticized her for wearing sunglasses and holding a parasol while talking to a disaster relief volunteer.

In 2012, a government official in northwestern China’s Shaanxi province became the target of an online manhunt after netizens pounced upon a photo of him grinning while inspecting an accident site. Net users even dug up photos of him wearing several different luxury watches at work. In some cases, online vigilantism can take a dark turn, with innocent lookalikes being harassed after being misidentified.

Editor: Qian Jinghua.

(Header image: An aerial view of the accident site on the expressway near Fuyang, Anhui province, Nov. 15, 2017. IC)