Emmy, age 3, was napping next to her best friend at a daycare centre in northern Thailand when an armed intruder with a gun and a knife broke in.
The eleven three-year-olds in the class were previously engaged in drawing and writing. At approximately 10:00 local time, teachers sent photos of smiling, happy children to the parents of each student.
Panya Kamrab, a former police officer, stormed the building two hours later, during nap time. Before entering each of the three kindergarten classrooms, he reportedly opened fire on personnel, including a teacher who was eight months pregnant, according to witnesses.
He murdered all of Emmy’s sleeping friends, Uncertain as to how she survived. She was discovered conscious and curled up alongside the bodies of her classmates.
“When she awoke, she had no idea what was happening,” her grandfather Somsak Srithong, 59, tells me from the family home.
“She believed her friends were still sleeping. A police officer covered her face with a cloth and removed her from the blood by carrying her away.” Emmy was taken to the second floor by rescuers to shield her from the horror. They then searched the other two classes in desperation for survivors.
She is the only child to survive Thursday’s massacre in Nong Bua Lamphu. There were a total of 37 fatalities, including the attacker’s wife and stepson, and 24 of the victims were children, “I am extremely thankful that she survived. Upon first seeing her, I gripped her so tightly “says Somsak.
The mother of Emmy, Panompai Srithong, is 35 years old and works in Bangkok during the week. She needed assurance that her daughter was still alive after being informed that all of the children at the centre had died, “When I finally received a video call from Emmy, I felt blessed relief,” she says.
This small town is filled with grieving families, and Emmy’s grandparents struggled to know what to tell her for the first few days, We converse quietly as she plays in the garden with her favourite Hello Kitty wellington boots. She keeps asking about her best friend, Pattarawut, who was three years old and also known as Taching.
They consistently slept with their feet touching. She also cherished the day care and aspired to be like her teachers, “Her grandmother finally told her that all of her schoolmates and her teacher had died, and that the daycare centre had closed,” her mother says.
“She desires only to attend school daily. We must continue to inform her that the school is closed. She lacks the maturity to comprehend the concept of death.”, Several temples in the city are hosting Buddhist funeral rites and prayers for the victims to mark the beginning of three days of mourning, The motive for the attack is currently unknown, but police say Kamrab was fired for drug use in June.
This small rural town in northeastern Thailand is attempting to assist grieving families. However, many also inquire about the widespread availability of lethal weapons and the country’s pervasive drug problem.
“Parents are asking, “Where can their children play safely?” I’m so sad and I beg any authority to improve our security “Emmy’s uncle Veerachai Srithong pleads.
