Massacre of children in Thailand in a knife and gun rampage, condolences pour in

It was a sad day for Thailand when a former police sergeant, discharged over drug allegations, shot and knifed children and staff in a daycare center. The assailant targeted the children, aged between two and five. He slashed them to death, and shot the adults. It happens to be one of the world's worst death tolls of children massacred by a single killer. The killer was facing trial on a drugs charge. The tragedy happened in Uthai Sawan, a town about 310 miles northeast of Bangkok, the capital of the largely Buddhist country. After committing the massacre, he left the daycare centre, went home and shot dead his wife and son before taking his own life. Families traumatised by Thailand attack cling to slain children's toys. The national police chief Damrongsak Kittipraphat said - "The reasons are probably unemployment, no money, and family issues," he said, adding that the attacker and his wife had had "longstanding problems."

Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha met the families of the victims. He lay flowers and observed a moment of silence in front of the centre. King Maha also Vajiralongkorn visited the hospital. The Vatican said Pope Francis was deeply saddened by the "horrific attack." He condemned it as an "act of unspeakable violence against innocent children." Incidentally, there have been earlier instances of death in schools in other parts of the world. In Norway in 2011, Anders Breivik killed 69 people, mostly teenagers, at a summer camp. Later, in 2012, it was the killing of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut. In 1996, the toll as of 16 at Dunblane in Scotland and 19 at a school in Uvalde, Texas, this year. As far as Thailand goes, it has strict gun laws but gun ownership is high when compared with some Southeast Asian countries. Moreover, illegal weapons are common, with many brought in from strife-torn neighbours.

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