Obama picture on the way to being Flickr's most viewed

(AFP PHOTO / Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

A snapshot taken of President Obama and others as they wait for news on the mission to capture Osama bin Laden is on the way to becoming image-sharing site Flickr's most viewed photo, attracting an average of 44,000 views per hour over the first 24 hours after being uploaded.

The image, uploaded by the White House, shows President of the United States Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and others amid a tense atmosphere in the White House Situation Room as they wait for updates on the mission to kill terrorist Osama bin Laden.

The photo was posted on May 2 after news of Bin Laden's death and attracted over a million views in 24 hours.  

As of May 4 at 2:00pm GMT the photo had been viewed 1.65 million times, over half the amount of Flickr's current most-viewed photo, of Nohkalikai Falls, Cherrapunjee, which has amassed 2,981,476 views in nearly five years.

The picture of Obama in the White House situation room is available to view at http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/5680724572/

The image of Nohkalikai Falls, Cherrapunjee is available to view at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pankaj/319387997/