The Star Malaysia

Thai city comes to terms with mass shooting tragedy as authoritie­s begin releasing bodies.

Mass shooting survivors recount their ordeal as authoritie­s begin releasing bodies

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Authoritie­s in northern Thailand began releasing bodies to relatives after security forces cornered and killed a soldier who carried out the country’s worst mass shooting in an hours-long siege at a shopping mall.

The soldier killed 29 people starting with his commanding officer in a stunning tragedy that began Saturday and ended Sunday morning when security forces shot dead the heavily armed attacker in Terminal 21 Korat, a mall in Nakhon Ratchasima.

The gunman, Sgt Maj Jakrapanth Thomma, 31, was infuriated at a land deal brokered by his commander’s mother-in-law, as far as authoritie­s have been able to determine. She was another of his victims.

The death toll surpassed Thailand’s last major attack on civilians, a 2015 bombing at a shrine in Bangkok killing 20 people that was allegedly carried out by human trafficker­s in retaliatio­n for a crackdown on their network.

Messages of sympathy for the latest tragedy were sent by several countries.

The US Embassy said it “stands with the people of Thailand, saddened by tragic events in Nakhon Ratchasima”.

More than 1,000 people mourned the victims on Sunday night in a vigil led by Buddhist monks at the city’s town square. They lit candles and chanted.

Many of the 58 wounded are still in bad condition. The Public Health Ministry sent a mental health crisis team to help relatives of the deceased cope with their losses.

Survivors and victims’ families at the city’s hospitals recounted their ordeals.

Cpl Korakot Ampanngeun said he had been ordered to block a road so no one could go towards the gunman.

“So I was signalling to oncoming traffic, when I turned around and saw him. If I had not, I would not have survived,” he recalled.

“I tried to run and find somewhere to hide. But I could only take two steps and then I heard the sound – ‘bang’. My leg just went and I couldn’t walk. A good Samaritan helped carry me away.”

High school student Nachote Chotiklang said he was in his mother’s car as she passed the gunman’s vehicle.

“The assailant got out of the car and fired into the window. I ducked down and didn’t do anything until I felt the car hit something. It hit a tree.”

When the teenager was asked what happened to his mother, Nachote shook his head. Another man explained that she had died.

Rachanon Kanchaname­thi was riding a motorbike home when the gunman fired at him. The 13-yearold middle school student was his family’s only child.

His father spoke at the first day of his son’s Buddhist funeral.

“I don’t want to lose him like this,” Nuttawut Kanchaname­thi said.

“This is too sudden. We had plans for him, growing up. That’s all. We didn’t impose any expectatio­ns on him.” — AP

 ?? — AFP ?? Paying tribute: People laying down flowers at a vigil for victims following a deadly mass shooting in Nakhon Ratchasima.
— AFP Paying tribute: People laying down flowers at a vigil for victims following a deadly mass shooting in Nakhon Ratchasima.

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