At least 37 killed in attack at Thai nursery

Witnesses who say they saw the attacker approaching the centre have been speaking to Reuters news agency.

One woman says she thought he was coming to pick up his child, "because he's a parent of one of the kids".

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Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida will on Friday visit people injured in the attack, it has been announced.

Meanwhile the government said it will provide financial aid to the families to help cover funeral expenses and medical treatment.

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the attack in north-east Thailand.

Guterres was "shocked and saddened by the horrific mass shooting," his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

Dujarric added that the UN chief "extends his condolences to the families of the victims and wishes those injured a speedy recovery".

Police say at least 37 people have now died in the attack after a former policeman opened fire at a childcare centre in Uthai Sawan, Nong Bua Lamphu province.

A sense of disbelief is evident at the childcare centre where at least 37 people - mostly children - were killed on Thursday.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Head teacher Nanticha Panchum was among the five teachers and a maid at the centre on the day of the attack.

Speaking to the BBC, she said usually there were 92 children who attend the centre. But due to bad weather and a broken down bus, only 24 children had shown up.

Not long before the attack, she said she had just sent the children to nap, and had gone to make some lunch. It was then that she heard five gun shots.

She described how another teacher had recognised the gunman as a parent of one of the children at the centre. But the child hadn't come to the school for a month.

She said the gunman never came across as unwell, adding he was always polite when dropping his son off and was almost too chatty sometimes.

But today, however, her colleague told her his eyes were crossed and he was quiet.

The teachers tried to lock the door to stop him from entering, but he broke in and went into the rooms where the kids were sleeping.

Only one child survived, according to Nanticha.

Quote Message: This is something I never dreamed of… I don’t know what to do next. I really can’t think of anything at the moment."

This is something I never dreamed of… I don’t know what to do next. I really can’t think of anything at the moment."

Thai police have been giving more details about the attacks.

"After inspecting the crime scene, we found that the perpetrator tried to break in and he mainly used a knife to commit the crime by killing a number of small children, while a few survived," Thailand National Police Chief Damrongsak Kittiprapat said.

"Then he got out and started killing anyone he met along the way with a gun or the knife until he got home. We surrounded the house and then found that he committed suicide in his home."

On the morning of the attack, the suspect was due to attend a court hearing relating to drugs charges.

"After getting out of jail, he didn't stop using drugs. So, possibly, he might be hallucinating coupled with stress which caused him to commit the crimes. He started at the children's daycare centre and then continued his crime all the way to his home."

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There's a lot of activity here, people are trying to help the families of those affected.

But more than anything else there's a sense of total disbelief about what could have driven this man to carry out such a desperately cruel act.

Nobody has any answers at this stage, it came completely out of the blue.

Thailand is not a stranger to gun crime but killings on this scale - involving children - are pretty much unheard of.

Everyone is looking for answers, but for now we're simply left absolutely stunned and disbelieving about what took place here.

Witnesses have spoken to the Reuters news agency about seeing the attacker approaching the childcare centre.

"He was in the middle of reloading the gun. I held my hands up and begged for mercy. I didn't know what to do," one woman said.

Another woman added: ‘’Because he's a parent of one of the kids, at first, I thought he was coming to pick up his kid."

One woman said she first thought the sound of bullets was a firecracker.

"He shot at the door while the children were sleeping," another said. "He didn't say anything. I was shocked."

"He used his feet to kick the window, then he shot at the door... I ran to the kitchen behind. I was in shock; I didn't know what to do," another recalled.

This morning's attack at the childcare centre has left a community reeling.

The BBC's Thai editor, Nopporn Wong-Anan, says the area in the north-east of the country is intensely rural, sitting over 530 kilometres away from the capital of Bangkok.

He says the remote area is quite impoverished, with most locals working as farmers and living on "basic necessities".

Nopporn adds that poor weather and intense storms caused by Thailand's monsoon season had prevented many families from taking their children out on Thursday morning.

"A lot of people are devastated of course, and many parents feel lucky that they didn't send their children to school because of the weather," he says.

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Video has emerged of distraught families at the scene of the attack at a childcare centre in north-eastern Thailand in which at least 37 people were killed.

The attacker, who killed himself after the incident, has been identified as former police officer Panya Khamrab.

Police have identified the attacker as Panya Khamrab, a 34-year-old former police lieutenant colonel.

He had been dismissed from the force in January for methamphetamine possession, and had appeared in court on a drugs charge hours before carrying out the attack, Thai police say.

He was due to face a verdict on Friday, but killed himself and his family as police searched for him following the attacks.

Pictures show rescue workers carrying the coffins of the victims from the scene, which have been loaded onto a lorry to be taken away.

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EPACopyright: EPA

EPACopyright: EPA

The police say the attacker arrived at the day centre at around 1pm, when the children were inside having a nap.

He was armed with a knife, a handgun and a shotgun, and began opening fire almost immediately, hitting teachers and parents who tried to stop him entering the building.

Police officers arriving after the attack were confronted with horrific scenes, the bodies of adults and children, some of them very young, lying inside and outside the centre.

The attacker hit several people with his truck as he drove away, and opened fire on them too, before going to his home, killing his wife and son, and then himself.

Though mass shootings are rare in Thailand, there are around 10 million privately-owned guns in the country of 70 million people, according to the most recent statistics from gunpolicy.org, an NGO based at the University of Sydney.

It said that of these, around 4.1 million weapons were unregistered.

In comparison, Myanmar, which has a population of 54 million, has around 870,000 firearms. While in South Korea, with a population of around 50 million, there are around 79,000 guns.

If you're just joining us, here's a recap of they key events of the mass shooting in north-eastern Thailand:

• A gunman has killed at least 37 people in an attack at a children's day care centre in Nong Bua Lamphu province

• He subsequently opened fire on and crashed his vehicle into a crowd of bystanders, before returning home and killing his wife and child, police said
• The gunman - who has been named by Thai police as former policeman Panya Khamrab - then shot himself dead

• He had been dismissed from the police force over drug offences, police said
• The gunman's child was a regular pupil at the day care centre, according to a teacher present at the scene of the attack who spoke to Thai TV
• Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha offered his deepest condolences to the victims's families and said he had ordered an investigation into the attack to be fast-tracked
• World leaders have also been offering their sympathies to the victims of the attack. UK Prime Minister Liz Truss said she was "shocked" to hear of the "horrific events'
• Australian leader Anthony Albanese said it was "impossible to comprehend the heartbreak" and said "all Australians send their love and condolences".

A teacher who was confronted by the gunman has told Thai TV that the shooter's child was a regular pupil at the day-care centre.

She told the Thairath TV network that the shooter - a former police officer - used to drop his child off at the nursery and had seemed polite when interacting with staff.

Before the attack, she said she heard a loud firework-like bang and two colleagues on the floor waving to her to take cover.

She said she then saw the gunman walking towards her. She fled inside a classroom with two colleagues and told them to lock the door.

The attacker attempted to shoot through it but the teacher was eventually able to escape the centre and climb over a wall to seek help.

Police have said the gunman's child was not at the centre today, but that the gunman later killed his wife and son at home before taking his own life.

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha will travel to Nong Bua Lampu tomorrow, his spokesperson has said.

Anucha Burapachaisri said the Thai leader will visit the site of Thursday's attack, where at least 37 people were killed.

Earlier, the prime minister ordered local police commanders to fast-track their investigation into how the attack had been allowed to happen.

We've got more information coming from a conference held by Thai police.

The national police chief says the gun used in the shooting was a 9mm legally-owned pistol.

General Damrongsak Kittiprapas confirms the gunman was dismissed from the police force over drugs offences in June.

He adds police believe the gunman was on the the drug amphetamine when he went to the children centre, which they say was close to his home.

The gunman who killed 37 people in today's attack in north-east Thailand legally purchased the firearm he carried out his attack with, police say.

He also mainly used a knife during the rampage that has left 22 children dead, officers said.