Photograph taken at West Norwood station, London, tweeted before young man’s next of kin had been informed, police say

Police have condemned the “appalling lack of sensitivity” of an onlooker who tweeted a photograph of a young man dead on a railway line, taken and distributed before emergency services arrived.

The incident happened on Thursday afternoon at West Norwood station in south-east London. Ch Supt Paul Brogden, the British Transport police’s commander for London and south-east England, said the photo was made public before the man’s next of kin had been told.

He wrote in a series of tweets: “Difficult rail fatality to deal with at #WestNorwood yesterday due to callous acts of others tweeting an insensitive photo of deceased … This photo was tweeted prior to the arrival of emergency services & before we had even identified & informed the poor lad’s next of kin … We are taking all measures to request the removal of this distressing photo & thanks to all mainstream media outlets for not using this.”

The photo was still being re-tweeted on Friday, sometimes accompanied by mocking comments. It was not immediately clear who first took the picture.

A British Transport police spokesman said: “We were called to West Norwood station at 2.20pm yesterday after reports of a body on the tracks. Colleagues from the Met police and London ambulance also attended. A man was pronounced dead at the scene. His death isn’t being treated as suspicious.

“We are working to identify the man and inform his family and establish how he came to be on the tracks. It’s not certain how he was there and how he died, but that will form part of our identification. We will provide a file for the coroner.”

He added: “This happened very close to West Norwood station and our officers were there shortly after they were called. Unfortunately, somebody took and tweeted a photo, which was re-tweeted many times. It’s something which is disgraceful, there is no other word for it, really. It’s an appalling lack of sensitivity. We have reported the incident to Twitter and we’re waiting to hear back on that.”