Sleeping toddler survives Thailand massacre because killer did not spot her under blanket

A three-year-old toddler was one of the only children to escape from a massacre in a Thai nursery after the killer did not notice that she was asleep under a blanket.

Nong Am was napping with dozens of her classmates in a locked classroom when Panya Kamrab forced his way in and began attacking the children with a knife and a gun.

However, the former police officer apparently assumed Nong, who was sleeping at the far end of the room covered by a blanket, was already dead and left her unscathed, according to local reports.

She was reportedly the only one from that classroom to survive.

When news broke of the deadly rampage, which left 24 children and 12 adults dead, her grandfather rushed to the scene.

He found one of the nursery’s teachers holding Nong in her arms, covering her face with a cloth so she could not see her dead friends.

“It is a miracle from God that saved my niece’s life,” Wutthichai Baothong, her uncle, told a local TV station. “Brothers and sisters… she was the only one to survive.”

He thanked the teachers at the school for helping to protect her.

Nong was comforted by her relatives, seemingly unaware of what she had been through.

Hers was one of dozens of heartbreaking stories to emerge from the chaos that unfolded on Thursday in Nong Bua Lamphu, northern Thailand.

Another toddler who survived had two bullets surgically removed from his head.

Three-year-old Sumaee was stabbed in the head then shot twice by Kamrab. Joy, his mother, arrived at the school after hearing the horrifying news to find a rescue team carrying Sumaee out to an ambulance.

“This morning he begged me not to go to school, but I forced him,” she said through tears.

But not everyone was so lucky. Two-year-old Kamram was one of those killed at the nursery.

“Before he passed away, he wished to eat pizza. We were very sad that we didn’t buy pizza for him before,” said Naliwan Duangkot, his aunt who later comforted his mother Panita Prawanna, 19.

The dead also included Supaporn Pramongmuk, a pregnant teacher whose husband posted a poignant tribute on Facebook.

“Please be a teacher in heaven, and my child please take care of your mother in heaven,” wrote Seksan Srirach.

Mass shootings are rare but not unheard of in Thailand, which has one of the highest civilian gun ownership rates in Asia, with 15.1 weapons per 100 people compared to only 0.3 in Singapore and 0.25 in Japan.

Anutin Charnvirakul, the country’s health minister, said that the attack was “definitely the worst situation that has ever happened in Thailand”.

On Friday morning, royal and government representatives in white uniforms laid wreaths on ceremonial tables in front of the nursery’s main door, as a faded Thai flag flew at half mast above.

They were followed by weeping family members, who gathered their hands in prayer before placing white roses on the wooden floor.

Prayut Chan-o-Cha, the Thai prime minister, laid flowers and handed out compensation cheques to grieving families.

At one temple in the village, 10 white and gold coffins – some so small they looked like toy boxes – were loaded into fridges ahead of the customary three days of mourning before cremation.

A young father, his face a mask of tears, staggered away from other mourners after watching his son’s body being stored away.

Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida visited a hospital treating those wounded to meet survivors of the attack.

The rare public interaction for the monarch, who is officially regarded as a semi-divine figurehead, was a sign of how deeply the incident has affected the nation.

Panya, a former police officer, was fired earlier this year because of a drug charge involving methamphetamine.

He had been due to appear in court on Friday. An employee told a Thai TV station that his son had attended the daycare, but had not been there for about a month.

When asked whether he thought the nursery was secure enough, Mr Seksan noted the attacker had been a police officer and said: “He came to do what he had in his mind and was determined to do it. I think everyone did the best they could.”

After the attack, Panya went home and killed his wife, child and then himself.