Three-year-old Emmy was found awake next to the bodies of her roommates; crime has devastated the Asian nation.
While three-year-old Emmy was taking a nap with her best friend at a nursery in northeastern Thailand, a gunman walked in with a shotgun, pistol and knife.
The class, consisting of 11 children similar in age to Emmy, had spent the previous hours drawing and painting. At 10:00 am (local time) the teachers sent pictures of the children to their parents – they were happy and smiling.
Two hours later, at nap time, former police officer Panya Kamrab entered the building. Eyewitnesses say he shot three nursery workers, including an eight-month pregnant teacher, before they entered the kindergarten.
He killed all of Emmy’s classmates in their sleep.
- What is known about the nursery attack that killed dozens of people in Thailand
It is unclear how he managed to survive. But Emmy was found awake next to the bodies of her little friends.
“When he awoke he had no idea what was going on,” his grandfather Somsak Srithong told the BBC in an interview at the family’s home.
“He thought his friends were still asleep. A policeman covered his face with a cloth and swept him away from all the blood.”
Rescuers took Emmy to the second floor of the school to save her from the horror scene. Then they searched the other two rooms, hoping to find more survivors.
But the Emmy is just one of three rooms occupied by the gunman in the city of Nong Bua Lamphu last Thursday (6/10). A total of 37 people died, including the attacker’s wife and stepson. 24 of the dead are children. The attacker committed suicide.
“I’m so grateful he survived. I hugged him so tight when I saw him,” Somsak says of Emmy.
Emmy’s mother, Panompai Srithong, works in Bangkok during the week. When She learned that all the children in the nursery had died, she had to be convinced that her daughter was alive.
“When I finally got a video call with Emmy, I felt blessed with relief,” she says.
But the small town is now full of devastated families. Emmy’s grandparents have a hard time explaining what happened to the little girl.
She plays with Hello Kitty boots in the backyard while her relatives chat with the BBC. He often asks about his best friend Pattarawut, whose nickname is Taching. The girl was also three years old.
The two of them took a nap together, always pressing their feet together.
Emmy also has good memories of nursery and dreams of being like her teachers.
“His grandmother said that along with the teachers, his friends at the nursery died and the nursery was closed,” his mother says.
“He likes to go to school every day. We have to repeat to him that the nursery is closing. He is too young to understand the concept of death.”
Funerals and Buddhist prayers for the victims take place at various temples in the city to mark the beginning of a three-day mourning.
The cause of the attack is not yet known. Police said Kamrab was fired from his job in the security forces in June for drug use.
The same day as the attack, he appeared at a hearing on meth trading charges. The verdict in his case was due the next day.
Small rural community in northeastern Thailand trying to support bereaved families. But many have also questioned the prevalence of guns in the country – about one firearm for every seven Thai citizens, according to Reuters, and 40% of those guns are illegal – and the growing problem with drug use.
“Parents ask themselves, ‘Where is a safe place for children?’ “I’m very sorry and beg the authorities to strengthen our security,” says Emmy’s uncle Veerachai Srithong.
Text originally published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-63185760
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source: Noticias
