Thailand's Supreme Patriarch passes away

BANGKOK, October 24 (TNA) - Thailand's Supreme Patriarch passed away on Thursday night from blood infection at the age of 100. Bangkok's Chulalongkorn Hospital, where the 19th Supreme Patriarch of Thailand's Rattanakosin Era had been treated, announced that His Holiness Phra Yannasangwon, the Supreme Patriarch, passed away peacefully at 7:30pm. The Bureau of the Royal Household Bureau said in a statement that His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej acknowledged the death of His Holiness with deep sorrow and instructed that palace officials wear black for 15 days, from October 25-November 8, 2013, to mourn the departure of His Holiness. The Thai government also announced the 15-day official mourning period for the late Supreme Patriarch, with national flag lowered at half-mast for three days. The revered Supreme Patriarch's health condition had been deteriorating after he underwent an intestinal surgery for bacterial infection on October 14. (TNA)