International News

BANGKOK, July 11, (APP/AFP) – Eight people,
including three children, were killed by gunmen in Thailand’s Krabi province, police said Tuesday, a mass slaying investigators believe was sparked by a personal conflict.
Police say a gang of six or seven men, stormed a house in the
southern province around 4:00 pm (0900 GMT) on Monday.
They took ten people hostage and waited for the owner of the property
to return.
“Around 8pm the owner arrived, all of them (the victims) were
handcuffed and blindfolded until midnight when gunmen opened fire,” Chaiwut Buathong, chief of Ao Luek district, told AFP.
Six died at the scene, two others died in hospital, Chaiwut said,
adding three of the victims were girls aged under 15.
Three others were taken to hospital with one in critical condition.
Photos taken by medical workers showed two bodies slumped on a
blood-splattered children’s bed, with a teddy bear thrown to one side.
“It is under investigation but initially police suspect this is a
personal conflict,” Major General Worawit Panprung, from Krabi provincial police, told AFP.