Woman is DECAPITATED by lorry in Manchester in hit-and-run... and workmen post sick pictures of her body on Twitter

• Man arrested on suspicion of murder, but released without charge
  
• Witnesses take 'sick' photographs of the woman on their mobile phones
• Police are investigating whether death was accident or suicide
• Also looking into claims body may have fallen out of a lorry
  

By Eddie Wrenn

PUBLISHED: 10:24 EST, 29 March 2012 | UPDATED: 14:55 EST, 29 March 2012

A woman was decapitated by a 40-ton truck in a suspected hit-and-run tragedy today - as witnesses took sick photos of her on their mobile phones.

The victim is believed to have fallen into the path of the articulated lorry as it travelled through the rush hour. The HGV driver then drove off without stopping.

Police were called to the scene at 10am on Upper Brook Street in Longsight, Manchester, to find the woman’s body parts strewn across the road.

Probe: Forensic officers search a logistics lorry on an industrial park in Newton Heath. It is not known whether the vehicle was involved in the alleged hit-and-run death of a woman in Greater Manchester

But as the tragedy unfolded, passers-by whipped out their phones and began taking pictures of the grisly scene before posting them on social networking site Twitter.

Eye witnesses claimed builders working on a nearby site had also filmed the death taking place. One picture on Twitter showing the woman’s severed leg was later deleted.

A lorry driver was arrested on suspicion of murder after his vehicle was pulled over by police at a side street near a council tip three miles from the death scene. He was later released without charge.

Officers are investigating whether the victim jumped to her death from an office block during the morning rush-hour and fell into the path of the truck.

Police are also looking at whether the woman walked into the path of the vehicle and are even thought to be probing claims the body may have fallen out of a lorry.

A forensic officer searches the lorry, while police try to discover if this was a suicide or a tragic accident

A large police cordon was thrown around the area which is overlooked by a 100 foot high office block.

One Twitter user cycling to work said: 'Just driven past the body of someone who had committed suicide by jumping off a building in Manchester. People were filming it - sick.'

He added: 'It was absolutely revolting. Like nothing I have ever seen. There were some builders nearby who were filming it on their phones.'

Another local Jack Rogers, 26, said: 'It’s unbelievable that people would take pictures of something like that happening. I didn’t see the incident itself but everyone is talking about it - especially the stuff about people taking pictures.

'It’s just sick and so unfeeling of people to do things like that - especially when a woman is lying dead.'

The road lies on a busy commuter route close to the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Forensic officers were examining the blue articulated lorry stopped in Newton Heath.

Supt Wasim Chaudhry from Greater Manchester Police said: 'At 10am this morning police received a report of a body in the road.

'Officers attended and we can confirm we found the body of a deceased female.

'It’s a very fast moving investigation. The female has suffered some sort of road traffic injuries.

'We are in the very early stages and we are keeping an open mind as to what has happened here today.

Twitter has become a great way to share short messages and images - but users sometimes find darker methods

'I want to reassure the public that we are doing everything we can to establish the circumstances around what has happened here.

'I understand the community will be very distressed, but we have a team of trained officers at the scene and in the area.

'We are making every effort to try and identify the person who has lost her life in what are clearly tragic circumstances. We are also trying to establish her age.'

'Given that this incident was only reported a few hours ago we are getting a lot of reports from members of the public, if you witnessed the incident or have any information which could help our investigation, please contact us as soon as possible.

''The body has suffered significant injuries, it’s a very busy road, there’s a lot of traffic and it’s used by a lot of commuters.

'We have stopped a lorry and checked a lorry and it’s being managed as another forensic area.

'The road where it happened is a very busy road, there would have been a lot of people in the area and I’d like to appeal to witnesses that if they have seen something happening in that area to come forward.'