NONTHABURI – Three children, including 11-year-old twin boys and their 9-year-old friend, died in a fire that broke out in a monk’s living quarters at Wat Suan Kaew temple in Bang Len subdistrict, Bang Yai district, Nonthaburi province on Wednesday night.
The three children were under the care of the temple, where they were provided with shelter and education. The twins lived in this particular living quarters, and their two friends came to play with them. However, two of the friends went home before 10 p.m. on May 22, shortly before the fire started just after midnight.
Rescue workers found the charred bodies of the three children huddled together in a heartbreaking scene near the exit door. Police suspect that the fire may have been caused by an electrical short circuit at the base of one of the posts supporting the structure. When rain fell, it likely caused a short circuit with the metal frame of the building, igniting the fire.
At 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Ms. Kesorn, 42, the mother of the twin boys who died in the monk’s living quarters, arrived at Wat Suan Kaew after learning the tragic news about her twin sons. She collapsed in tears in front of the temple, hitting her chest and face in front of reporters to express her grief and sorrow.
Ms. Kesorn said that she had planned to visit her children at the beginning of next month but had to face this situation instead. She is so heartbroken that she wants to die with them.
Phra Payom Kalayano, the abbot of Wat Suan Kaew, said that the temple has been taking care of children for nearly 30 years, and there has never been such a serious incident before. What happened last night was an unforeseen incident because it was Visakha Bucha Day, and the temple had activities such as listening to sermons and candlelight processions until late at night. As a result, the person in charge of taking care of the children could not fully supervise them, and the children took the opportunity to sneak out of their dormitory to play in an unoccupied monk’s quarters.
The authorities’ investigation revealed that five children, including two pairs of twins, went down to play together. After playing for a while, two children asked to go to bed first, leaving the twin boys and one of the twins from the other pair playing in the quarters until the incident occurred. If the two children had not gone to bed first, it could have taken the lives of five children.
Phra Payom further stated that some news agencies have presented distorted information, claiming that the room was locked from the outside. This is not true. The temple has video footage showing the temple caretaker running to get a fire extinguisher to help put out the fire in the room.
“If the door was really locked with a key from the outside, the entire quarters would have been burned down by now, and it would not have been possible to enter and extinguish the fire in time,” said Phra Payom.
Pol. Lt. Col. Piyawut Kaewmanee, acting superintendent of Bang Yai Police Station, said that the police officers at Bang Yai Police Station would have to wait for evidence from the autopsy results to determine the exact cause of death of the three children, whether they died from smoke inhalation or electrocution before being burned by the fire.
