3 injured as explosions rock Songkhla’s Thepha district
Police evacuated workers after the first explosion took place at 6.10am, followed by two more blasts four hours later near the same site
Three people were injured when two bombs were detonated in a construction camp in Songkhla’s Thepha district on Wednesday morning. One of the injured was a nine-year-old boy.
Two more explosions took place about four hours later near the same camp, but no casualties were recorded.
The first attack took place at 6.10am at the site where the world’s tallest Guanyin temple is being built, prompting the authorities to evacuate the remaining 30 workers.
Pol Colonel Thammarat Phetnongchum, commander of Thepha police station, said some 150 teachers and students from Yala, who were at a resort nearby to participate in scout training, also returned home. The resort is about a kilometre from the construction site.
Thammarat said police officers rushed to the camp after hearing about the explosions and immediately took the three injured to hospital.
One victim was first rushed to Chana Hospital before being taken to Songkhla Hospital. The other two were admitted to Thepha Hospital. Police said all three were in a stable condition.
At 10.40am, two more explosions took place near the camp, while a third bomb was detonated near a sign pointing to Sakom beach, about 500 metres from the main road. A fourth bomb exploded about 100 metres from the site of the third explosion. No injuries were reported in any of these explosions.
However, these explosions have prompted the Army, police and the Interior Ministry to step in to control the situation. Songkhla police chief Pol Maj-General Chaowalit Liangsupong arrived at the joint commanding centre in the district to take charge.
Thammarat, meanwhile, said the authorities could not yet establish what kind of bombs were used as bomb disposal experts were still waiting for security forces to clear the areas before they could be deployed to check the remnants.
Meanwhile, Songkhla governor Chotenarin Kerdsom called Thepha district chief Ekkachai Ratana to cooperate with security forces to secure the situation as soon as possible.
