The image of the couple lying in the street seemingly locked in a kiss as the Vancouver hockey riots erupted around them has become an internet sensation, but the pair may not have been in the throes of a passionate embrace after all.
After the photo was tweeted and carried on news sites around the world, people have come forward to offer a less romantic explanation of the image, taken by the Canada-based photojournalist Richard Lam.
William, a witness, told the Vancouver Sun the couple were run over by two riot police officers: "The girl who was knocked over landed head first on the pavement with her boyfriend landed partially on top of her," he said. "She was in visible pain, crying, but the two officers gave them a parting shove and moved on. Bystanders went to make sure she was OK."
Another angle of the photo, which the Vancouver Sun reports was sent in by several readers, appears to support William's version of events.
Meanwhile, a woman has contacted the Australian website 9News to claim she is the sister of the man in the photograph, whom she names as 29-year-old Scott Jones, from Perth. Hannah Jones said Scott had been living and working in Vancouver for six months.
She told 9news that lots of his friends had left messages on his Facebook page and he had posted a reply saying: "Classic! This was shortly after the riot police run over the top of us and naturally Alex needed some comforting."
Lam took the photograph while covering the riots that followed the Vancouver Canucks' 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup.
The photographer was being buffeted by rioters and riot police when he spotted the couple. "I was about 20 or 30 yards away," he said. "There were these two people on the ground in this empty street. Initially I thought one of them was hurt." He took a few shots and then the moment was lost.
"It was complete chaos. Rioters set two cars on fire and then I saw looters break the window at a neighbouring department store," he said.
"At that point, the riot police charged right towards us. After I stopped running, I noticed in the space behind the line of police that two people were lying in the street with the riot police and a raging fire just beyond them.
"I knew I had captured a 'moment' when I snapped the still forms against the backdrop of such chaos but it wasn't until later when I returned to the rink to file my photos that my editor pointed out that the two people were not hurt, but kissing," Lam said before the real story behind the photo was apparently revealed.
Officials in Vancouver said almost 150 people required hospital treatment and almost 100 were arrested during the riot.
A spokeswoman for the local health authority said three stabbing victims had been admitted and one man was in a critical condition with head injuries after a fall from a viaduct.
Rioting and looting left cars burned, stores in shambles and windows shattered over a roughly 10-block radius of the city's main shopping district.
The police chief, Jim Chu, said nine officers were injured, including one who required 14 stitches after being hit with a thrown brick. Chu said some officers suffered bite marks. He said 15 cars were burned, including two police cars.
He called those who incited the riot "criminals and anarchists" and said officers identified some in the crowd as the same people who smashed windows and caused trouble through the same streets the day after the 2010 Winter Olympics opened.
"These were people who came equipped with masks, goggles and gasoline," he said. "They had a plan."
Chu said those who stood by and filmed and cheered also bore responsibility.
The assistant fire chief, Wade Pierlot, said people were rescued from rooftops and bathrooms where they had hidden for safety. He said some people moved burning dumpsters away from buildings to prevent further damage.
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