Abdulla Shahid, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Maldives has offered his condolences, following the mass shooting at a children’s daycare center in the town of Nong Bua Lamphu, Thailand.

In his message of condolence extended to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand Don Pramudwinai, the foreign minister expressed that he was deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the mass shooting at a daycare center.

The massacre claimed the tragic loss of innocent lives, including many children.

FM Shahid noted that the people and government of Maldives joins him in extending deepest sympathies and condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the massacre.

The Maldivian minister stated that the government of Maldives’ thought and prayers are with the people and government of Thailand, during this tragic time.

Reuters reports that the assailant was identified as a former policeman, who raided the daycare center armed with a knife and gun on Thursday.

He is to have killed 37 people, including 22 children between the ages of two to five years, and later shot his spouse and child at home before “turning his weapon on himself”.

This has been dubbed one of the world’s worst child death tolls in a massacre by a single assailant in recent history.

The former policeman is to have been dismissed from his post in the service in 2021. He was to be tried on charges related to drug allegations.