Uthai Sawan/Vatican City – An atmosphere of sorrow, prayers, remorse filled the air when 30 coffins, 24 of them children aged between 2 and 5 were passed on to their loved ones in one of the worst massacres by a single killer that shocked the world this Thursday.
Pope Francis expressing his “deep sadness” and offering his heartfelt condolences to those affected by the attack, sent a telegram, signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.
Pope Francis implored “divine healing and consolation” upon those affected by the attacks.
He prayed that “in this hour of immense sadness,” the injured and the grieving families might be able to draw “support and strength from the solidarity of their neighbours and fellow citizens.”
Police have identified the attacker as an ex-policemen who burst into the day-care in a horrific rampage, killing mostly children.
Slayed innocence
Plai Fon, a chubby-cheeked 4-year-old, one of the victims of the massacre, would say, ‘I love you, mommy and daddy and brother,’” her 28-year-old mother, Tukta Wongsila, recalled of her daughter’s usual morning routine. In Thai, the child’s name means “the end of the rainy season” — a time of happiness. Tukta’s grief over the memory soon stole her breath away.
At least 24 of the victims of Thursday’s gun and knife attack in northeast Thailand were children, mostly pre-schoolers. One day after their short lives were robbed away, their desperate families spent hours outside an administrative office near the day care center, waiting for their children’s bodies to be released.
Image courtesy - AP
“I want to get my daughter back to hold a ceremony as soon as I can,” Tutka wailed, tears pouring from her red eyes. “All this insurance money, I don’t want it. I just want her back for the funeral.”
Tukta and her family live in Uthai Sawan, a rural community in one of the country’s poorest regions, not far from the Laos border. Like many residents, they have long struggled to pay the bills.
On Thursday, Plai Fon went to the Young Children’s Development Center, where the walls are adorned with cheerful pictures of flowers and butterflies. On Friday, as Tukta waited for her daughter’s body, she found herself contemplating the horror Plai Fon must have endured in her final moments.
The mother of Toddler Pattarawat Jamnongnid, a 40-year-old factory worker, said her only child was energetic and talkative. At two years and 10 months, he was the youngest victim and already knew the alphabet, she said.
“It was just too much. I can’t accept this,” said Oy Yodkhao, 51, sitting Friday on a bamboo mat in the oppressive heat as relatives gave her water and gently mopped her brow.
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Her 4-year-old grandson Tawatchai Sriphu was killed, and she said she worried for the child’s siblings. The family of rice farmers is close, with three generations living under one roof.
Families who emerged from the temple after the funerals, spoke of seeing massive cuts on their children. Many screamed. Some fainted.
The Slain Murderer
Kittisak Polprakan, 29, who witnessed the killing spree, described Panya Khamrap, 34, a former police sergeant who was facing trial on a drugs charge as being calm as he emerged from the daycare centre, having slashed 22 children with a large curved blade.
It was not clear if Panya still used drugs, although policy say his autopsy found no evidence of drug use at the time of his death.
Asked about the killer's motive, he told reporters it was "because of his constant stress ... his family, his money and his legal cases. So, he acted aggressively".
Image courtesy - Reuters
In front of the daycare centre, people had left toy flowers and toy trucks, in an offering to the spirits of those killed.
Mass shootings are rare but not unheard of in Thailand, which has one of the highest civilian gun ownership rates in Asia, with 15.1 weapons per 100 people. That’s still far lower than the U.S. rate of 120.5 per 100 people, according to a 2017 survey by Australia’s GunPolicy.org nonprofit organization.
-Reuters/AP