Published 20:39 IST, February 10th 2020
Thailand mourns for mass shooting victims as their families claim their dead
In the wake of a mass Thai shooting by a soldier that claimed 29 lives, relatives of the victims conducted Buddhist prayer ceremonies on February 10
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In the wake of a mass Thai shooting by a soldier that claimed 29 lives, relatives of the victims conducted Buddhist prayer ceremonies on February 10 as questions continue to grow over why the shooting spree happened in the first place. According to reports, the grieving family members held pictures of the victims and arrived at a morgue located in Nakhon Ratchasima to carry coffins back home. A victim's grieving father said that he was clueless of what to do next as he waited to claim son's body. He further added that is grandchild kept on asking why he couldn't call his father and that made him clueless on how to tackle the situation.
Prayer ceremony headed by a Buddhist Monk
According to reports, a prayer ceremony was headed by a Buddhist monk in orange robes outside the mall for one of the victims, Peeraphat Palasan. Palasan was killed as Jakrapanth Thomma opened fire into the moving traffic, killing the man and causing his car to crash. Palasan's father, Witoon said that his son had just finished work and had gone to the mall for shopping, adding that he never thought that he would be losing his son forever.
A lot of people left flowers and heartwarming messages outside the airport-themed mall where the rogue soldier went on a shooting spree on February 8. One of the messages read Rest in Peace.
Movement of the gunman tracked through CCTV cameras
The shoppers at Terminal 21 reportedly jammed cubicle doors against the entrance to keep out the Thai soldier with a grudge who killed 29 people and wounded 57 before he was fatally shot inside the mall on February 9. The survivors of the 'unprecedented' incident on February 9 had traced the movements of the gunman through fragments of the CCTV passed on by friends who were outside the mall.
Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma with an unknown grudge had already killed several people on his way to the mall, which is the largest shopping centre and was crowded on the first day of the long weekend. He swaggered through the mall with a machine gun slung over his shoulder, helmet on, and was in full combat gear as seen in the CCTV cameras.
(With Agency inputs)
20:39 IST, February 10th 2020