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Families mourn Thai nursery dead ahead of king's visit

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Montira Rungjirajittranon with Thanaporn Promyamyai in Bangkok, Agence France-Presse 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="A woman cries after laying white roses on the steps of the nursery, where a former police officer killed at least 37 people in a mass shooting, in Na Klang in Thailand" s="" northeastern="" Nong="" Bua="" Lam="" Phu="" province="" on="" October="" grief-stricken="" families="" gathered="" outside="" a="" Thai="" nursery="" where="" an="" ex-policeman="" murdered="" nearly="" two="" dozen="" young="" in="" of="" worst="" mass="" killings.="" Manan="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/afp/10/07/nursery-afp-1072022.jpg"/><figcaption>A woman cries after laying white roses on the steps of the nursery, where a former police officer killed at least 37 people in a mass shooting, in Na Klang in Thailand&#x27;s northeastern Nong Bua Lam Phu province on October 7, 2022. Weeping, grief-stricken families gathered on October 7 outside a Thai nursery where an ex-policeman murdered nearly two dozen young children in one of Thailand&#x27;s worst mass killings.<em> Manan Vatsyayana, AFP </em></figcaption></figure></div><div> </div><p>NA KLANG, Thailand — Weeping, grief-stricken families gathered Friday outside a Thai nursery where an ex-policeman murdered nearly two dozen children in one of the kingdom&#x27;s worst mass killings.</p><p>Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha will later visit survivors of the <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/06/22/gunman-murders-at-least-35-in-thai-nursery-attack">attack </a>that left at least 37 people dead, including the attacker&#x27;s wife and child.</p><p>Around the small low-slung building, where only 2 days ago scores of preschool children played, officials in white uniforms with black armbands laid a red carpet for the king&#x27;s visit.</p><p>A line of heartbroken parents placed white roses on the steps of the nursery as the baking sun bore down on them Friday morning.</p><p>Buarai Tanontong&#x27;s two 3-year-old grandsons were among those killed at the nursery when the attacker burst through the door.</p><p>&quot;I couldn&#x27;t sleep. I didn&#x27;t think that it would be my 2 grandsons,&quot; she said, clutching her inconsolable daughter&#x27;s shoulder.</p><p>Earlier a palace representative laid a wreath from the royal family at the entrance of the nursery.</p><p>Overnight, coffins carrying the bodies of the victims -- who include 23 children -- arrived at a morgue in Udon Thani, the closest city to the rural district ripped apart by Thursday&#x27;s three-hour rampage.</p><p>Armed with a 9mm pistol and a knife, sacked police sergeant Panya Khamrab opened fire on the childcare centre in the northeastern Nong Bua Lam Phu province at about 12:30 p.m. </p><p>Following the attack, 34-year-old Panya fled the scene in a pickup truck to head home and murder his wife and child before taking his own life, police said, ending the killing spree around 3:00 pm. </p><div><strong>DRUG ADDICT </strong></div><p>Flags on government buildings flew at half-mast on Friday in a gesture of mourning for one of the deadliest days in recent Thai history.</p><p>Nanthicha Punchum, acting chief of the nursery, described harrowing scenes as the attacker barged into the building in the rural Na Klang district.</p><p>&quot;There were some staff eating lunch outside the nursery and the attacker parked his car and shot four of them dead,&quot; she told AFP.</p><p>&quot;The shooter smashed down the door with his leg and then came inside and started slashing the children&#x27;s heads with a knife.&quot;</p><p>Local media reported that the dead included a school teacher who was 8 months pregnant, and that one child survived because they were sleeping hidden by a blanket when the attacker struck.</p><p>National Police Chief Damrongsak Kittiprapat told reporters that Panya, a former police sergeant, was suspended in January and sacked in June for drug use.</p><p>He said the attacker -- who used a legally purchased pistol -- had been due in court on a drugs charge, adding that Panya was in a manic state but it was unknown whether it was drug-related.</p><p>Witness Paweena Purichan, 31, said the attacker was well-known in the area as a drug addict.</p><p>She told AFP she encountered Panya driving erratically as he fled the scene.</p><p>&quot;The attacker rammed a motorbike into 2 people who were injured. I sped off to get away from him,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;There was blood everywhere.&quot;</p><p>Video footage that Paweena posted online showed a woman lying injured in a roadside bush after apparently being knocked off her motorbike by Panya.</p><p>Thai PM Prayut has ordered a rapid probe into the attack, which came less than 3 years after a soldier gunned down 29 people in a 17-hour rampage and wounded scores more before he was shot dead by commandos.</p><p>And less than a month ago an army officer shot dead two colleagues at a military training base in the capital Bangkok.</p><p>But while Thailand has high rates of gun ownership, mass shootings such as Thursday&#x27;s are rare.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/06/22/no-pinoys-hurt-in-thailand-nursery-attack-so-far-envoy">No Filipinos hurt in Thailand nursery attack so far, PH Ambassador says</a></li></ul><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse </strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2277944" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Weeping, grief-stricken families gathered Friday outside a Thai nursery where an ex-policeman murdered nearly two dozen children.

Families mourn Thai nursery dead ahead of king's visit

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Families mourn Thai nursery dead ahead of king's visit

Montira Rungjirajittranon with Thanaporn Promyamyai in Bangkok,

Agence France-Presse

Published October 07, 2022 12:32 PM PHT

Read More:

Thailand

shooting

children

nursery attack

nursery

daycare

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