A village on the northeastern border of Thailand was shelled by the Cambodian military, resulting in numerous civilian casualties. A Thai man lost his life after using his body to shield his young nephew from the blast.
According to Thailand's Khaosod Online, the victim's 53-year-old mother, Wanwisa Wenji, told the media that she was gathering villagers at the village center in preparation for an emergency evacuation when her husband came running and told her: "Wife, our son is gone. The bomb just dropped."
She rushed home and found her son lying face down in a pool of blood.
"I immediately looked for a car to take him to the hospital, but the scene was already in chaos, with barely anyone left. I tried my best to lift him into the local government's ambulance, holding his face and calling his name throughout the way, trying to keep him conscious, but his face had already turned blue, his feet yellow, and the blood wouldn’t stop," she recalled tearfully.
"I cried and shouted in the car, feeling like every second was agonizingly long. I kept urging my son to hold on and asked the ambulance to drive faster, but when we arrived at the hospital, the doctor shook his head and told me my son could not be saved."
She revealed that her son's name was Bandi, and he was the breadwinner of the family. He was next to his nephew when the rocket landed, and he used his body to shield the child from the blast, allowing his young nephew to survive, but tragically losing his own life.
Bandi’s father was also injured in the attack and is currently undergoing surgery in the hospital. His condition is stable.
"I have never been through anything like this in my life. The shells fell right in our village. Everyone was terrified; many people cried inconsolably."
Wanwisa pleaded for the Thai government to help the victims: “Our home is gone, and our son is gone, too. We want an explanation and want the Cambodian government to be held accountable for this attack.”
She added through tears that three days ago, her son told her: "If the country needs me, I’m willing to enlist. I will not avoid it." She never imagined that before he could join the army, he would become a victim under the shellfire.