Hundreds of mourners and victims’ families have gathered to watch flames burn from rows of makeshift furnaces at cremation ceremonies for the young children and others who died in last week’s mass killings in Thailand’s rural northeast. Families bid their final goodbyes at a Buddhist temple a short distance from the Young Children’s Development Centre in the town of Uthai Sawan, where a former policeman, who was fired from his job earlier this year for using drugs, barged in and shot and stabbed children and their caregivers. The police sergeant, Panya Kamrap, ended up killing 36 people, 24 of them children, in this small farming community before taking his own life. It was the biggest mass killing by an individual in Thailand’s history. Joint ceremonies for most of the victims were held at three temples to spare families from having to wait long hours for successive cremations to be completed, Phra Kru Adisal Kijjanuwat, the abbot of the Rat Samakee temple, said. A ceremony for 19 of the dead, 18 of them children, was held at his temple. With a large crowd watching, monks slowly walked out of the temple hall, followed by grieving relatives. Each family was led by one monk, with police bearing the coffin behind them. After the coffins were placed on each of the small, brick furnaces, the victims’ relatives came forward in the darkening skies to put portraits of their loved ones on top. Some family members also placed children’s toys alongside. Buddhist chants played from a speaker system set up behind the relatives, as officials and monks began lighting the pyres one by one. The victims’ relatives sat silently, hands clasped in prayer. “Each one of them watched the cremation with their minds in a state of conscious awareness,” said the abbot. “The support they received from people all around has blessed them, lessened the sorrow they have.” Many of the young victims’ bodies had been dressed as doctors, soldiers or astronauts – what they wanted to be when they grew up – before their evening cremation. “The more we talked (to the families), we realised that these children also had dreams of becoming doctors, soldiers, astronauts, or police officers,” said volunteer rescue worker Attarith Muangmangkang, whose organisation arranged for the costumes. Petchrung Sriphirom, 73, was one of many local residents who travelled to the temple to offer condolences to the families and make a small donation to help with funeral costs, which is a common Thai custom. “I just want to help our friends and share our thoughts with them,” said Petchrung. “We are not talking about money or anything but rather sharing our thoughts and feelings as a fellow human being,” The perpetrator’s body was cremated on Saturday in a neighbouring province after temples in Uthai Sawan refused to host his funeral, Thai media reported.