Thais condemn Strasbourg shooting

Thais condemn Strasbourg shooting

The Thai embassy in Paris has condemned the deadly attack at a crowded Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg, which killed three people including a Thai tourist.

Responding to the tragedy, believed to be a terrorist attack, on its Facebook, the embassy said it "condemned the gunman who claimed the lives of innocent people".

Anuphong Suebsaman, a 45-year-old noodle factory owner, was killed when the attacker sprayed bullets into a crowd at the city's famed Christmas market before fleeing on Tuesday.

The attack took place about 8pm local time in the heart of the medieval city in eastern France as the market was closing, sending crowds fleeing for their lives.

Three people were killed and 12 others injured.

Anuphong died on his way to hospital.

Anuphong Suebsaman, 45, was shot dead in Strasbourg in France on Tuesday. Sirisak Borisutsawat Facebook page

He and his wife had only just arrived in the city on vacation that day. His wife escaped the attack unhurt.

"We share the deep grief of the families of the victims," the Thai embassy wrote in its post.

Embassy officials and the Thai community in Strasbourg were working together to give support to Anuphong's wife.

Department of Information chief Busadee Santipitaks said diplomats were helping her with accommodation and will work closely with French police if further developments arise.

The attack prompted the French government to up its terror alert to "attack emergency," the highest of its three warning levels, the embassy said.

Authorities were to tighten security along France's borders as well as at Christmas markets across the country.

"Thais in France must stay alert and exercise caution while travelling," the embassy said.

Anuphong's family in Thailand said they have been left devastated by the news of his death.

"I still do not know all the details. I only learned Anuphong was killed by stray bullets," his cousin Thiraphon Chatchayaworachat said on Wednesday.

Anuphong was the second son of a family who own a noodle factory in tambon Wang Takhian in Chachoengsao's Muang district.

Immigration Bureau chief Surachate Hakparn said he will meet French diplomats in Thailand today to discuss ways of assisting the dead man's wife.

Hundreds of police and elite anti-terror units in France were on Wednesday hunting for the gunman who was known to police and thought to be an religious extremist.

The suspected shooter, a 29-year-old from the south of the city, was on a watchlist of suspected extremists and was "actively being hunted by security forces", local officials said.

The man opened fire in three areas of the Christmas market, which draws hundreds of thousands of people each year to its wooden chalets selling festive decorations, mulled wine and food.

Much of the centre of the city and the European Parliament were locked down on Tuesday night as teams of police and soldiers searched for the gunman who was reportedly armed with an automatic rifle and a knife.

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