UTHAI SAWAN, Thailand –
Makeshift furnaces made from clay bricks have been constructed Monday on the grounds of Buddhist temples in a small city in northeastern Thailand on the eve of the cremation of the younger victims of final week’s massacre at a daycare centre by a former policeman.
Last Thursday’s brutal gun and and knife assault on the Young Children’s Development Center in Uthai Sawan left 36 individuals useless, together with 24 younger kids. It was the most important mass killing by a person within the nation’s historical past.
Phra Kru Adisal Kijjanuwat, abbot of the Rat Samakee temple, round 3 kilometres (2 miles) from the scene of the bloodshed, mentioned 19 victims will likely be cremated in a gaggle ceremony on Tuesday, bringing an finish to a three-day mourning ceremony for the households.
He mentioned the our bodies could be cremated on the similar time on charcoal-fuelled open-air pyres to spare the households from having to attend lengthy hours for successive ceremonies to be accomplished.
“We solely have one furnace on the temple and we would not be capable to cremate all victims on the similar time, and I don’t want for any household to have to attend for a prolonged cremation course of,” Adisal mentioned.
“After seeing their grief, I believed it will be higher if we are able to maintain the ceremony on the similar time and that every one relations can undergo this ultimate stage of this painful occasion collectively,” he mentioned.
The monk mentioned momentary furnaces have been additionally being put in at two different close by temples that may account for the remaining victims. He mentioned that 5 households have chosen to host their funeral companies individually from the group ones.
Police recognized the perpetrator of the massacre as Panya Kamrap, 34, a police sergeant fired earlier this 12 months after being charged with a drug offence.
A transparent motive for the killings could by no means be decided after Panya took his personal life, however police say they contemplate his monetary and marital issues, in addition to his historical past of drug use, to be components.
Panya was cremated Saturday in a neighbouring province after temples in Uthai Sawan refused to host his funeral, Thai media reported.
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Associated Press author Kaweewit Kaewjinda in Bangkok contributed to this report.