- Laura Baker – Sukada Foasat
- BBC – Thailand
Amy is the only child survivor of the massacre that killed 37 people, including 24 children, in Thailand
Three-year-old Amy was napping next to her best friend at a daycare center in northern Thailand when the attacker broke into the scene armed with a pistol and knife.
The kindergarten classroom included 11 children, all of whom were no more than three years old, as everyone was busy drawing and writing on Thursday. At about 10 a.m. local time, the teachers sent pictures to all the children’s parents to reassure them of the children’s health, who were smiling and happy in class.
but The situation completely changed after only two hours, specifically at nap time, when former police officer Banya Kamrap stormed the building, shooting everyone, killing 37 people, including 24 children, including the attacker’s wife and child, and wounding 12 others in Nong Bua Lamphu province, northeastern Thailand. .
Witnesses said he began shooting employees, including an eight-month-old teacher, before making his way to the nursery’s three classrooms.
Kamrap managed to kill all of Amy’s friends while they were sleeping in the classroom.
It is not yet clear how Amy survived the killing. But after the end of the study, she was found awake, but she was still lying on the ground next to the bodies of her classmates.
“She had no idea what was happening when she woke up,” her grandfather, Somsak Srithong, 59, told the BBC from the family home.
He added, “She thought her friends were sleeping. A police officer covered her face with a piece of cloth and carried her away from the blood.”
Rescuers took Amy to the second floor to keep her out of fright. Then they combed the other two chapters, hoping to find other massacre survivors.
She became the only child survivor of Thursday’s massacre at Nong Bua Lamphu nursery school.
Her grandfather Somsak expressed his happiness at her survival. “I am very grateful that she survived. I held her so hard when I saw her for the first time,” he said.
photo released, Archyde.com
The attacker was a sacked ex-cop who killed his wife and child
Amy’s mother, Panumbai Srithong, 35, works in Bangkok during the week. At first they told her that all the children in the nursery had died, and then she had to be persuaded that only her daughter was still alive, meaning that she would not have believed it.
“I finally got a video call with Amy and I felt so relaxed,” Panombay says.
This small town is filled with grieving families, and for the first few days, Amy’s family struggles to find out what to tell her about what happened and the death of the rest of the classmates.
We’re talking softly as she plays with her favorite boot (Hello Kitty Wellington) in the park. She constantly asks about her best friend, Patarout, she was three years old, and she was also known as Taching.
Amy and her friend were napping together with their feet touching. She also loved the daycare center and wanted to be just like her teachers.
“She was finally told by her grandmother that her school friends had all died, and so was her teacher, and that the nursery was closed,” her mother says.
“She just wants to go to school every day. We have to keep telling her school is closed. She’s too young to understand death.”
Buddhist funeral rites and prayers for the victims are held at many temples in the city to mark the start of three days of mourning.
The motive for the attack is not yet known, but police said the perpetrator of the massacre was fired from his job last June on drug charges.
This small rural town in northeastern Thailand is trying to support bereaved families in their grief. But many also wonder about the widespread use of deadly weapons as well as the country’s rampant drug problem.
“Parents ask: Where is the safe place for their children?” comments Vierachai Srithong, Amy’s uncle. I am very sad and beg any authority because It enhances our safety.”