No claimants for the bodies of middle-aged woman and teen boy
Mystery continues to shroud the death of a middle-aged woman and at least three others who were killed during the recent political turmoil, with little known about their identities and no one coming forward to claim their bodies.
The woman had been seen roaming around the Din Daeng intersection and Rajprarop Road for many days, collecting discarded items to support herself. She did not acquaint herself with anyone in particular and the locals are now wondering who she was after the government crackdown on May 19 unexpectedly claimed her life.
The middleaged junk collector, assumed to be in her 50s, whose name remains unknown, was caught in the hail of bullets around SamliamDin Daeng intersection and Rajprarob Road on May 19.
According to a man who brought her to Rajavithi Hospital, the woman was shot while she was bending down to pick up junk from the street at around 9am.
After being hit, she lay there helplessly for more than half an hour. Because gunfire continued and black smoke from burning tyres hovered over the area, no one could rush in to help her.
"She was lying there and we could do nothing," the man said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the woman was not killed instantly and was apparently appealing for help. He and his friends decided to ask for assistance from medics and rescue workers at Rajavithi Hospital.
"Can you send an ambulance to her? She is bleeding and suffering from pain. She is at the SamliamDin Daeng intersection," the man told a rescue worker.
But the rescue worker politely refused to dispatch the ambulance, explaining the situation was so dangerous that even the safety of medical workers could not be guaranteed.
"We are so sorry we're unable to help you," the rescue worker said.
He added that his colleagues had been shot at while trying to help victims. "We no longer want to lose anybody in our team," he said. "If you could use your motorcycle to bring her out of the firing zone, we will be ready to pick her up from a location closest to you."
Determined to save the bleeding woman, a group of four men rushed out of the hospital.
Ten minutes later, these motorcyclists came back to the hospital with the body of the junk collector. However, despite all the medical treatment, she succumbed to her injuries.
A hospital doctor said she died of massive haemorrhage and shock, because the bullets had cut her blood vessel at the right side of her leg.
"We have done our best but we could not save her life," the doctor said.
Pol LtColonel Thepitak Sangkla, an inquiry official of Phyathai Police Station, said he was now trying to locate the victim's relatives because nobody had come forward to claim her body for the funeral rites.
A 55yearold road sweeper, Suphab Sangsai, who works at Victory Monument area, said she had seen this junk collector every day before May 19.
Suphab described the junk collector as one with a hunchback, who always carried a black bag with her.
"Nobody knew much about her but she was nice. She never had problems with anyone," Suphab said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a taxi motorcyclist said he sometimes saw the junk collector with a man at night. "But I don't know where they lived," he said.
This middleaged junk collector was not the only anonymous victim of the recent political violence. Sadly, like her, three other bodies have been buried in Chon Buri without conventional funeral rites because no one had come forward to claim them.
Thepitak said a boy, believed to be 14, was shot in his abdomen at Soi Mor Leng near the Pratunam area during the government's socalled security operations blockade.
"The boy died and no one knows who he was," the policeman said, "We are unable to establish his identity."
On the day of his death, the boy donned a white polo shirt with embroidered English letters, "SR Telecom" on the left side of his chest.
Thepitak said the boy's body was kept at Ramathibodi Hospital for many days but no one came forward to claim it. Finally, authorities decided to bury his body in Chon Buri along with three other bodies, including that of the junk collector.