34 killed in Thailand at preschool centre: A look at some of the worst school attacks in history

At least 34 people, including 22 children, died in a gun and knife attack at a preschool centre in Thailand today (6 October).

The attack occurred at the Na Klang district of Nong Bua Lamphu province in northeastern Thailand, reported Associated Press (AP).

The AP reported citing the Daily News newspaper that the gunman fled the crime scene, returned to his home, and killed himself and his wife and child.

As per the New York Times (NYT), the shooter was identified by the police as 34-year-old Panya Kamrab.

Maj Gen Paisan Leusomboon, the deputy police commissioner, told Thai channel PPTV HD 36 that the assailant was a former police officer who was fired in June for drug use, as per BBC.

He used a nine-millimeter gun and stabbed the children with a knife, Thairath TV reported, as per NYT.

This attack in Thailand has brought back the focus on how such deadly incidents on schools continue to plague the world. A list of some of the worst school attacks.

2021 Kabul school blasts

More than 80 people were killed and over 150 wounded in the car bomb explosion outside Sayed Ul-Shuhada high school in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on 9 May 2021.

Two more bombs had exploded when students rushed out in panic.

Most of the casualties of the blasts were female students, which occurred in a western district of Kabul where most of the residents belong to the Hazara ethnic minority.

The attack had come amid concerns by rights groups about how American troop withdrawal would leave Afghanistan women and especially their social and educational progress vulnerable, reports NYT.

The then-Afghan president Ashraf Ghani blamed the Taliban insurgents for the blast. However, the Taliban refuted the claim.

2012 Connecticut school attack

On 14 December 2012, a young man named Adam Lanza, after killing his mother, drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut’s Newtown, United States, where he gunned down 20 children and six school administrators.

After the attack, he killed himself.

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting remains one of the deadliest in US history.

2022 Uvalde massacre

In a similar elementary school shooting in the US, 19 children and two teachers were killed on 24 May 2022.

An 18-year-old gunman, identified as Salvador Ramos, opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The shooter was inside the school premises for up to an hour before law enforcement killed him, reports CNN.

He had legally purchased two AR platform rifles and 375 rounds of ammunition after he turned 18. The images of the rifles were shared on Ramos’ Instagram just three days before the massacre, notes CNN.

This is the deadliest school shooting in modern Texas history, as per USA Today.

1927 Bath school bombings

On 18 May 1927, as many as 38 schoolchildren were killed in explosive blasts at Bath Consolidated School in Bath Township, Michigan, US.

The assailant Andrew Kehoe had also killed five adults. A day or so before the blasts, he had murdered his wife, as per Britannica.

The blast destroyed the north wing of the school. However, Kehoe had meant to blow up the entire school, which did not happen as 230 kg of explosives in the south wing failed to detonate.

After the blast, he drove with an explosive-laden truck to the school and blew himself, the school superintendent, two other adults, and another child.

2014 Peshawar school attack

Heavily armed Pakistani Taliban fighters attacked an army-run school in Peshawar, on 16 December 2014, killing 150 people, of whom at least 134 were students.

As per Pakistan Army, all seven militants involved in the attack were killed.

A victim told BBC that a gunman had entered his classroom and fired indiscriminately.

1996 Dunblane shooting

On 13 March 1996, a gunman, identified as Thomas Hamilton, opened fire inside a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland, killing 16 children and their teacher, before killing himself.

The Dunblane Primary School massacre led to stricter gun laws in the UK.

2004 Beslan school attack

On the morning of 1 September 2004, at least 32 armed militants stormed School Number One in Beslan, a city in North Ossetia, Russia, and took more than 1,000 hostages including children, parents and teachers, reports Britannica.

The siege by the militants linked to the separatist insurgency in Chechnya lasted three days.

The attack resulted in the death of 330 people, the majority of which were children.

2009 Winnenden school shooting

A 17-year-old shooter dressed in black combat gear went on a rampage and killed 15 people in southwest Germany on 11 March 2019.

The gunman, identified as Tim Kretschmer, shot dead nine students, including eight teenage girls, and three women teachers, as well as injured another seven pupils at the Albertville Realschule school in Winnenden.

He shot dead two others in a car dealership before shooting himself, as per Reuters.

2011 Rio de Janeiro massacre

Around 12 children were gunned down and more than a dozen wounded by a 23-year-old in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro on 8 April 2011.

The attack at Escola Municipal Tasso da Silveira school in the western Realengo area was carried out by its former student Wellington Menezes de Oliveira.

As per the police, the gunman shot himself in the head when officers confronted him, BBC reported.

It was the worst school shooting the country has ever seen.

2010 Nanping stabbings

On 23 March 2010, a former medical worker stabbed to death eight young children and wounded five others outside an elementary school in eastern China.

41-year-old Zheng Minsheng had admitted to “intentionally killing” the children at the gate of the Nanping Experimental Elementary School, as per China Daily.

He was sentenced to death by a court in Fujian province in April that year.

With inputs from agencies

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