Families bid farewell as Thai massacre victims are cremated

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA
Associated Press

UTHAI SAWAN, Thailand (AP) — Hundreds of mourners and families of victims of last week’s massacre at a day care center in northeastern Thailand have bid farewell to their loved ones who were cremated in rows of makeshift pyres. Thirty-six people including 24 children lost their lives last Thursday when a former policeman, who was fired from his job earlier this year for using drugs, barged into the day care center in the town of Uthai Sawan to shoot and stab children and their caregivers. The police sergeant then took his own life in the biggest mass killing by an individual in Thailand’s history. The town’s Buddhist abbot says the ceremonies for most of the victims were held jointly to spare families from having to wait long hours for successive cremations.