No injuries reported after car explodes at Narathiwat intersection
A car exploded about one minute after its driver abandoned it at an intersection in Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok district on Saturday night, police said.
No one was injured in the powerful blast that occurred just seconds after 8pm.
The blast destroyed the vehicle and scattered its pieces over a 100-metre area.
The roads at Orakan Intersection in Pasemus tambon were empty and no vehicle was passing when the car exploded just seconds after 8pm, police said.
Sungai Kolok Police Station commander Colonel Pratya Baiteh said footage from a security camera showed two men arriving at the intersection: One in the car and another on a motorcycle.
The driver of the car was filmed quickly leaving the vehicle and hopping on the motorcycle, which raced away.
Police believe the blast was part of the insurgency campaign in the southern border provinces.
The car’s left-turn lights were still flashing before the explosion. The car was abandoned on the left lane with its right side slightly blocking the right lane, apparently to prevent vehicles from passing. The intersection is located near a railway, but no train was passing at the time of the blast.
The video clip showed that the car exploded about one minute after its driver fled the scene.
The footage showed that only two vehicles passed through the intersection between the time the driver left the car and it exploded.
One was passing on the opposite side. It slowed down as it passed the abandoned vehicle. The other car made a turn from the right side and passed the abandoned vehicle about 20 seconds before it exploded.
The blast reduced the car into pieces that scattered about 100 metres around.
Two teenage girls suffered slight leg injuries, police said.
They said the explosion was caused by giant firecrackers planted by insurgents.
