Weeping parents lay flowers and toys on the coffins of 20 children and three teachers killed in a Thai school bus fire, as five days of funeral prayers began on Thursday.
Family members clothed in black gathered in the assembly hall of Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam school in Thailand’s northern region of Uthai Thani to console one another and pray for loved ones.
A large display of white flowers decorated the 23 coffins, which were topped with photos of the deceased and presents of food, drink, and even toy trucks and dolls to console the departed spirits.
Most family were too frightened to speak with reporters, but one grandmother choked back emotions to express her anguish. “Their father went to work.”and left the boys with me, and he was to get them in the evening. I lost both of my grandsons,” she told local broadcaster Amarin TV.
Nattawin Tongyoy, a journalist with Thairath TV, lost a cousin in the fire. “I am a reporter, I never think that this kind of news will happen to my cousin one day,” the man said to Thairath. “They were children, there was no way they could have escaped.”
On Thursday evening, Buddhist monks will conduct formal funeral prayers, with Thailand’s Privy Council chief representing King Maha Vajiralongkorn. The prayers will continue until the mass cremation, which is planned on Tuesday.
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