Thai families gather for mass cremation of nursery massacre victims
- A mass funeral for some of those killed by a former police officer is taking place in northeastern Thailand
- Chanting monks began the ceremony as the exhausted and grieving close-knit rural community prepared to say a final goodbye
Devastated families in Thailand gathered on Tuesday for the cremation of their loved ones, killed in a nursery school massacre that claimed 36 lives, including 24 children.
The kingdom has been stunned by the tragedy in northeastern Na Klang province, one of the worst mass killings in its history, with flags at half-mast and King Maha Vajiralongkorn visiting the families of the victims.
At Wat Rat Samakee temple in Na Klang, chanting monks began the ceremony as the exhausted and grieving close-knit rural community prepared to say a final goodbye to 19 of those killed.
“An incident like this shouldn’t have happened,” said Thanakorn Nueangmatcha, 39, ahead of the funeral at the temple. “They were only children.”
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Thailand holds mass cremation ceremony for victims of nursery mass killing
Other victims of the attack, perpetrated by a former police officer, who went on to kill his wife and her child before taking his own life, will be cremated at other temples in the area.