Several people are feared dead and at least 15 others were injured after a shooting at a school in Thailand on Friday. According to authorities, the incident occurred at Debsirin School in Nonthaburi district, on the outskirts of the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Authorities said a student opened fire in the school, prompting students and teachers to flee as emergency responders rushed to the scene.
The incident was reported around 10am (local time) when volunteers from the Poh Teck Tung Foundation received reports of shots being fired inside the well-known secondary school.
2 deaths confirmed so far
While officials are yet to confirm the number of deaths, reports from The Bangkok Post and Thai Enquirer state that at least two deaths have been confirmed.
Meanwhile, police officials have stated that the shooter died after a self-inflicted wound
In photos circulated by emergency workers, students were seen streaming out of the school as ambulances rushed to the scene. Live streams of the incident have also gone viral on social media, with security personnel requesting the public not to stream the incident.
This incident comes months after a teacher was killed and a student was injured during a school shooting in February.
In the February incident, the gunman was identified as an 18-year-old man who opened fire at Phatong Prathan Khiriwat School in Songkhla Province. During the incident, students and teachers were also held hostage, but were freed after police intervention.
Thailand has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the region, with around 10 million firearms estimated to be in circulation, which amounts to one for every seven inhabitants.
Past promises of tightening gun laws have not prevented repeated shootings in the country.