One 18-year-old student told Reuters he initially thought firecrackers were going off.
“I didn’t think it was a gun at first,” he said. “There were many shots: bang bang bang. Then it went quiet. Then it started again.”
Metres from the school gates, paramedics loaded the wounded into ambulances and rushed them to hospital, as milling crowds hugged and cried.
Rescue worker Kiatikhun Verapongpradith rushed to the scene after hearing children as young as 12 had been hurt.
“I saw students who had been shot, some in the arm, some in the back, some in the chest. So I rushed to help get them to the hospital first,” the 47-year-old rescue worker told Reuters news agency.
One grieving teacher told the BBC his friend was among the dead.
“She was my age. We went to this school together as students. Then we both became teachers at this school,” the 31-year-old, who declined to give his name, said.
