R. Umar Abbasi, who took the photo of Ki-Suk Han just before he was killed, has responded to the "armchair critics" who say he should've done more to help Han rather than just take the picture that ended up on the cover of Tuesday's New York Post. In a confessional published in yesterday's Post, Abbasi says, "It all went so quickly."
Abbasi says that the amount of time that elapsed from when he noticed Han on the tracks until the train struck him was closer to 22 seconds, which is considerably less than the 60 to 90 seconds reported by a police source that spoke to DNAinfo. Abbasi insists that Han was out of reach when he began running towards him.
He also added that the man began running at him after pushing Han. He says he was afraid the man might push him onto the tracks as well. Abbasi also insists that he was only flashing the camera to warn the conductor that there was someone on the tracks. He says he couldn't bear to look at the photos after the fact.
"I didn't even know at all that I had even captured the images in such detail," he wrote. "I didn't look at them. I didn't want to." He appeared on the "Today" show, and was asked how one of the photos appeared on the cover of the Post. He explained that he was approached because there was interest, and agreed to license them.
The Post has yet to respond to criticism over its decision to publish a photo depicting the last moments of a man's life.
[via Gawker]
