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Three bomb attacks killed seven people and wounded dozens more on Saturday in the heart of Yala, the military said
The blasts took place just minutes apart at the Ruam Mitr intersection in the main business centre of Yala municipality around noon on Saturday.
"Seven people are confirmed dead, more than 70 others were wounded in the Yala bomb blasts," Colonel Pramote Promin, a spokesman for the southern army region, told AFP.
"There were three bombs that exploded. The first is a car bomb and the second and third bombs were hidden in motorcycles."
Several shophouses near the blast sites were on fire and many parked cars and motorcycles were damaged by the powerful explosions.
A Yala city policeman said more than 50 wounded had been taken to hospital.
"The bombs went off about 10 minutes apart," he said.
One policeman was wounded in a separate motorcycle bomb attack in Mae Lan district of neighbouring Pattani province, police said.
A complex insurgency, without clearly stated aims, has plagued the far south near the border with Malaysia since 2004, claiming thousands of lives, both Buddhist and Muslim, with near-daily bomb or gun attacks.
Authorities have imposed emergency rule in the Muslim-majority region, which rights campaigners say effectively gives the army legal immunity.
The military last week admitted troops had shot dead four Muslim villagers on their way to a funeral due to a "misunderstanding" in late January after apparently fearing they were under attack from militants.
One of the region's deadliest incidents occurred on October 25, 2004, when seven people were shot dead as security forces broke up a protest in the town of Tak Bai, and 78 more suffocated or were crushed to death in trucks while being transported to a detention centre.
Rights groups have said the failure of Thai authorities to hold security forces to account over the deaths has fuelled further violence and alienation in the region.
The insurgents are not thought to be part of a global jihad movement but are instead rebelling against a long history of perceived discrimination against ethnic Malay Muslims by governments in the Buddhist-majority nation.
Police found two home-made bombs hidden inside two cars parked near the intersection.
It was reported that the explosion also caused a fire in nearby commercial buildings and firefighters were trying to put out the flame.
Elsewhere in the troubled southernmost provinces, a villager was killed in an ambush while walking home on a local road in Ban Khok Pan Ton in Pattani’s Mae Lan district late Friday night, reports said.
The victim was identified as Ama Wani, 34, a resident of Ban Khok Pan Ton.
He was walking home with his four-year-old son on the local road in the village when gunmen hiding in a roadside forest sprayed bullets at him.
Ama was shot in the head and died on the spot. His son was unhurt.
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Hat Yai 'was car bomb'
A car bomb is believed to have caused the fire that killed five people at a Hat Yai hotel and sent more than 300 to hospital on Saturday.
It was fairly clear that the blast was caused by a car bomb, according to evidence found at the scene, said Surin Weerasook, a mechanic (professional level) with the Region 12 Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, who led an inspection team to examine the cause of the explosion.
Four men and one woman died in the fire, Songkhla Governor Grisada Boorach told AFP. He said 336 people were injured, of whom 28 were in hospital.
Hat Yai mayor Phrai Phatthano reportedly admitted that the fire was caused by sabotage on the underground floor of the five-star Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel. However, he urged all sides to wait for an official conclusion on what caused the blaze.
The fire broke out just after a series of blasts in the commercial heart of Yala killed 10 people and injured more than 100, on one of the deaadliest days of the protracted southern insurgency.
Mr Surin said explosives had been hidden in a car parked on the underground parking floor, B2 of the 33-storey Lee Gardens in Songkhla province’s business and shopping hub.
The force of the blast tore the car to pieces and debris penetared the hotel's first floor located three floors above.
About 10 cars parked on B4 were also heavily damaged.
Mr Surin’s assumption coincided with TV news footage showing that explosives ordnance disposal (EOD) police had collected objects believed to be explosive devices at the scene.
Charred remains of five human bodies, one of them a woman, were found on separate underground floors of the hotel. Between 300 and 400 people were injured, mostly suffering rom smoke inhalation, burns and injuries from broken glass and falling debris, Mr Prai said.
Initial reports indicated that the fire was caused by an explosion in the five-star hotel’s gas pipeline system, and officials denied reports of a car bomb.
Songkhla Provincial Administration Organisation president Udon Uthit Choochart told Thai PBS television shortly before 6pm that emergency fire and rescue teams had used cranes to evacuate all people stranded on upper floors between seventh and 33th stories, which house the hotel rooms.
Heavy black smoke was seen billowing out of the underground floors and clouding the sky. Authorities earlier tried to use ventilation fans to clear heat and smoke to help stranded guests flee the hotel but failed due to excessive smoke.
Reports said the air in the underground floors was filled with gas, requiring authorities to wear oxygen masks and take turns in the area, for only 30 minutes maximum at a time.
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14 die in southern carnage
YALA BOMB BLASTS, SONGKHLA HOTEL BLAZE INJURE HUNDREDS
Turmoil descended on the South yesterday when three bomb explosions rocked Yala and a blaze gutted a luxurious hotel in Songkhla, causing at least 14 deaths and hundreds of injuries.
DAY OF DEATH IN THE SOUTH
Thick smoke pours from the ground floor of the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel as firefighters struggle to control a blaze that killed five people and injured more than 350 others. Below, right and centre, many guests and workers had to be rescued from the building. Authorities said the fire was caused by an explosion. As of press time, they had yet to find any evidence linking the fire to bombings in the South yesterday
Nine people were killed and more than 100 others wounded in three bomb attacks in Yala's downtown area, while an explosion that caused a fire at Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel and shopping mall in Songkhla's Hat Yai district killed five and left more than 350 injured.
Authorities confirmed that the bombs in Yala were made by insurgents but could not confirm if the incident in Hat Yai was linked to terrorism.
But Hat Yai mayor Prai Pattano, who had earlier ruled out a terror attack, changed his mind after inspecting the scene, saying he believed it was terrorism.
Chaos struck shortly before 12pm in the business area of Yala's Muang district when two bombs went off on Sai Ruam Mit Road. The explosives, weighing 60-70kg, were stored in two 15kg gas cylinders and put in an Isuzu pickup truck. Recovered from the blast site were parts of damaged gas cylinders and electronic circuits and power cables.
As authorities rushed to the scene, another bomb exploded in front of a convenience store about 20m away. The bomb was planted in a Toyota pickup truck.
Shophouses, parked cars and motorcycles near the blast sites were set on fire. The two pickup trucks used in the attacks and the suspects were captured on surveillance cameras. The Isuzu truck was suspected to have been used in the recent attack on a security checkpoint in tambon Kalor of Raman district.
In less than one hour, a major fire engulfed Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel, which houses a hotel and shopping complex, following an explosion from the basement car park. Four men and one woman were found dead. Three of the bodies were recovered from the basement.
More than 350 people were injured. Most suffered from smoke inhalation and cuts from shattered glasses and windows.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said authorities had been told to urgently investigate and help victims.
Surin Weerasuk, who headed an inspection team from the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department, said initial evidence suggested a possible car bomb.
Songkhla Governor Krisada Boonrat said it was too early to conclude it was an attack. "No bomb device has been found so far. We need to investigate," he said.
A bomb expert said the fire could have been caused by liquid explosives.
Rescue operations were hindered by a lack of proper equipment. Hat Yai municipality sent a fire truck with a hydraulic platform to help douse the blaze but it could only reach the height of a four storey-building.
By late afternoon, the fire was under control.
Phetdao Tohmeena, daughter of former senator Den Tohmeena, said she was in a meeting at the Novotel opposite Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel when she heard a loud explosion,
"I could feel the impact. I saw smoke coming out and people sprinting out in panic. Some looked OK and some were injured," she said.
Songkhla police chief Pol Maj Gen Suwit Choensiri and Fourth Army Commander Lt Gen Udomchai Thamsarot ordered security to be stepped up in shopping malls and hotels in the province.
Yesterday's death toll represents the greatest carnage since August 2008 when two explosions rocked Hat Yai and five others hit downtown Songkhla.
In Pattani province, a small bomb exploded in a food shop, slightly injuring a police officer, police said.
A source close to the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre said yesterday that escalated violence was aimed at sending signals that insurgents do not want to negotiate with authorities.'
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Eksplosioner dræber 14 og sårer 450 i Thailand
Det sydlige Thailand blev lørdag ramt af eksplosioner, der dræbte mindst 14 personer og sårede 450 personer.
Ni personer mistede livet, og mere end 100 blev såret, da en bombe raserede centrum af byen Yala i det sydlige Thailand, mens fem personer blev dræbt som følge af en eksplosion og efterfølgende brand på luksushotellet Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel og det tilhørende shoppingcenter i Songkhlas Hat Yai-distrikt.
350 personer blev såret ved det sidstnævnet angreb, der ramte ved middagstid.
Myndigheder bekræfter, at oprørere stod bag angrebet i Yala, mens de ikke vil be- eller afkræfte om eksplosionen i Hat Yai er terrorisme.
Ingen har endnu taget ansvar for angrebene, og guvernør i Songkhla, Krisada Boonrat, mener også, det er for tidligt at komme med nogen konklusioner.
- Der er ikke fundet rester af bomber indtil videre. Vi bliver nødt til at efterforske, siger han til Bangkok Post.
Premierminister Yingluck Shinawatra har dikteret en hurtig og grundig efterforskning af eksplosionerne og tilskynder de lokale myndigheder til at hjælpe de mange sårede og de pårørende til ofrene.
Thailands tre sydligste provinser, der grænser op til Malaysia, har været plaget af bombeangreb og skyderier siden 2004, hvor en separatistisk bevægelse genopstod.
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More Hat Yai bombings feared
Security authorities in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district have placed the city on high alert as they search frantically for four vehicles suspected of being rigged for fresh attacks after a car bomb that caused a fire in the city centre a day earlier and left five people killed and hundreds injured.
Meanwhile, Police say they have identified the gang they believe planted the bombs in Yala and Hat Yai on Saturday which killed 14 people in total.
Hat Yai Police Station’s radio centre on Sunday notified all security units to launch a thorough search of the city for the four vehicles including two Isuzu pickup trucks – one coloured blue and the other bronze metallic - a white Toyota Hilux Tiger pickup and a black Honda Civic sedan, media reports said. All have been stolen.
It's believed the vehicles were used as getaway cars after the bombings and police sources said it was likely they would be rigged to stage more attacks in downtown Hat Yai following Saturday’s car bombing at Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel and shopping mall.
Police have identified the owner of the car used in the attack at the five-star hotel as Thanasorn Kuasook, ex-deputy chief of Choeng Khiri tambon administration organisation in Narathiwat's Sri Sakhon district. He was killed by suspected militants in his hometown in October last year and his car was stolen, according to authorities.
Explosives ordnance disposal and forensic police have collected partial evidence from Thanasorn’s car which was parked in the underground parking floor, level B2, of the 33-storey Lee Gardens. Officials’ can proceed only investigate three of the five underground floors because the air in the area is still filled with gas and has little light.
More than 200 owners of cars damaged in the attack have submitted their registration papers to the authorities, reports said.
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Police identify bomb suspects
Sahudin Tohjehmah, whose group is reportedly active in Yala’s Ramandistrict, is suspected of being the mastermind behind the multiple bombings in Yala on Saturday. MUHAMMAD AYUBPATHAN
Police have identified the insurgent gang they believe planted the car bombs in Yala and Hat Yai on Saturday which killed 14 people.
Police believe further attacks are likely in Hat Yai, and have identified the four vehicles which they say could be used to plant the bombs.
The blast on Saturday at the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel and shopping mall was caused by explosives left in a stolen vehicle, abandoned in the hotel's carpark, they confirmed Sunday.
They say the triple blasts in downtown Yala _ which occurred about the same time and took 11 of the 14 lives _ were also planted in stolen vehicles.
Insurgents stole most of the vehicles in previous attacks on security targets.
The vehicles police believe could be deployed in further attacks in Hat Yai were identified as a blue Isuzu pickup truck, a bronze Isuzu pickup, a white Toyota pickup and a black Honda sedan.
Police believe insurgents may have used them as getaway vehicles as they left the scene of the Saturday blasts.
Security footage shows suspected insurgents leaving the scene of the intended blasts in Yala in a Isuzu pickup truck and a Toyota pickup. In Hat Yai, they left in a black Honda sedan.
National police chief Priewpan Damapong said he believes the blasts were coordinated and mounted by the same people.
Eight of the 11 people killed in Yala died at the scene. Another three died later at hospital. About 100 people were injured, including 31 people who were were hospitalised, 10 in a serious condition. In Hat Yai, three people were killed in the hotel blaze, and more than 350 injured. Of these, 133 were still being treated in hospital yesterday.
The black Honda Civic sedan in which suspected insurgents left the scene of the hotel belonged to 39-year-old Thanasorn Kuasuk, an officer in Narathiwat's Si Sakhon district who was shot and killed in his office last October. The assailants fled in his car.
A police source said the sedan took gas and the insurgents probably used liquid explosive to set off the propane tank.
Police and forensic officials yesterday cleared three of five carpark floors under the hotel, making sure no other bombs were hidden there. The military is reviewing the hotel's security system.
More than 200 people showed up with car registration papers to claim their vehicles from the carpark.
In Yala, police found the Isuzu pickup seen leaving the scene belonged to resident Rohing Da-eso, who earlier reported it stolen.
Insurgents travelled in it on March 9 to attack a security checkpoint in tambon Kalor of Raman district.
The Toyota pickup also caught in security footage was stolen from a market in Muang district on March 20.
Fourth Army Commander Lt Gen Udomchai Thamsarot said on Sunday that authorities have identified a group responsible for the bombings and expect to make arrests soon.
A police source said the bombs were believed to be the work of a hardcore insurgent group led by Sahudin Tohjehmah, who is active in Raman.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra expressed her condolences to the families and the victims of the bomb attacks, but said she did not plan on inspecting the area herself.
"Some staff would be assigned to provide security for me and I think that would hinder their efforts," she said. http://www.bangko...er-attacks
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Army 'faces 3,000 active rebels'
Thailand is fighting against more than 3,000 militants waging insurgency in the deep South, army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said Monday.
Suspected militants set off a series of large explosives in popular areas on Saturday, including two car bombs. They killed 14 people and more than 350 in the deadliest attacks to hit the far South.
"There are about 300 of leader rank, 3,000 operators and about 10,000 supporters," the general said, adding that their numbers had fallen due to arrests.
The army chief called for people to remain calm following the weekend attacks in which a tourist hotel was targeted, raising concerns as the country prepares for the mid-April new year Songkran holiday.
"Do not panic because that is what this group wants," he said.
Gen Prayuth was speaking in Bangkok before accompanying Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on a visit to the largest southern city of Hat Yai, where a car bomb at a hotel and mall complex triggered a fire that killed three people and injured more than 400.
The attack came about an hour after car bombs killed 11 people and wounded more than 100 in the town of Yala further south.
The hotel attack was another escalation in the tactics of militants, who have attacked the airport and downtown area of the tourist-friendly city several times in the past.
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Million-baht bounty
Authorities are offering 500,000 baht apiece for the arrest of these two men caught on CCTV - and believed responsible for the death and destruction at the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel.
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Police arrest 7 bomb suspects
20 others thought to be behind attacks in South
Police have arrested seven suspects believed to be involved in the spate of deadly bomb attacks in Hat Yai, Songkhla, Pattani and Yala on Saturday.
In the Hat Yai bomb incident, Narathiwat police said three of the suspects surrendered after a combined military-police team surrounded a house at a village in Rueso district yesterday.
A task force had been sent to the house following a tip-off that bomb suspects might be using it as their hideout.
The three _ Dulloh Haseng Yamaska, 50, Abdul Asis Hatama, 41, and Adnan Duramae, 31 _ emerged from the house after 30 minutes of negotiations with the officials.
Police said they found a pickup truck belonging to the head nurse of a local hospital in Raman district, Yala, during a search of the property. The nurse was killed in an Oct 19, 2011 attack. The truck was allegedly stolen by her assailants.
Police said the licence plate of the pickup truck had been found on a stolen Honda which was used to carry one of the bombs at the Hat Yai hotel.
The arrest of the two other suspects in the Hat Yai bomb attack was revealed at a separate press conference in Bangkok by national police chief Priewpan Damapong earlier yesterday.
Pol Gen Priewpan declined to reveal their identities but said the two were being interrogated by investigators.
"Preliminary findings from the investigation show there are 20 others who were involved in the attack," he said.
Pol Gen Priewpan's disclosure came as military and police officers stepped up their hunt for suspected bomb plotter Jehma Wani and a suspected bomb maker identified only as Mr Baeyu.
Both are suspected of being behind Saturday's car park bombing.
Police investigators at Provincial Region 9 said Mr Jehma was a former Islamic teacher and soldier and is a hardcore insurgent. They said Mr Baeyu is an expert bomb maker who is reclusive and security authorities do not have in-depth information about him. However, they believe both were trained to make bombs in a foreign country and are transferring their knowledge to insurgents in southern border provinces.
The car park bomb killed three people, injured hundreds of others and caused heavy damage to the hotel.
The car that supposedly carried 50-60 kilogrammes of radio-detonated explosives was deliberately parked on the third basement parking floor which is the middle floor of five underground floors of the hotel. It is understood the blast was intended to create maximum impact to vehicles parked at other parking floors to trigger chain explosions.
Pol Lt Gen Chakthip Chaijinda, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 9, said yesterday the provincial police office was offering a 1 million baht bounty for the arrest of the two suspects in addition to the 500,000-baht bounty that Songkhla governor Grisada Boonrach had already set for them.
Meanwhile, security authorities were closing in on some suspects thought to be responsible for the bombings in Pattani and Yala provinces on Saturday.
Pol Maj Gen Pichet Pitisetpan, chief of Pattani police, yesterday brought to the press a male bombing suspect identified as Samlee Huluduereh, 34.
The man, a Yala local, was arrested at his wife's house in tambon Muang Tia of Mae Lan district, Pattani. Security authorities confiscated from him a 100-metre length of cable, a set of pliers, nails and a mobile phone.
The suspect was identified from recordings of six surveillance cameras, witnesses' accounts and a record of his cell phone use. He was suspected to be the person who detonated a bomb-laden motorcycle in front of a food shop in tambon Mae Lan, Pattani, on Saturday. The explosion injured a senior police officer and damaged properties.
Mr Samlee denied he was involved in the bombing. He said he had been with his wife on Saturday.
Investigators questioned a 22-year-old suspect identified as Anuwat Tohjeh about the bombings in Yala province on Saturday. The man is a local of tambon Yupo in Muang Yala district and had allegedly driven a vehicle following a bomb-laden pickup truck before the first car bomb went off in the district.
Police identified the man from recordings of surveillance cameras. He denied any involvement in the blast.
On Tuesday, soldiers, police and local administrators searched Ban Pongruerai village in tambon Bannang Sareng of Muang Yala district and found what were believed to be components of improvised explosive devices including chopped steel rods, electronic circuits, 17 used gas cylinders, and wires in some houses.
Senior police adviser Pol Gen Worapong Chewpreecha said police were about to seek warrants for the arrest of some suspects for the bombings in Yala.
The National Human Rights Commission yesterday expressed condolences to people affected by the bombings in Yala, Pattani and Songkhla provinces last Saturday.
Noppong Theeraworn, chair of the Yala Chamber of Commerce, said the bombings on Ruammit Road in Muang Yala district affected the economy of the province and the chamber would organise events to stimulate it in a month. Initial economic damages are estimated at 80 million baht there.
Col Pramote Prom-in, deputy spokesman of the southern command of the Internal Security Operations Command, said yesterday army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha ordered soldiers to improve the database of suspects and suspicious vehicles in the far South and to strictly search suspects and suspicious vehicles in communities, school markets and other special safety zones.
The deputy spokesman said special law enforcement was necessary in some areas for the sake of public safety.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday her government was working harder to ensure public safety and restore confidence following the southern bombings.
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31 March 2012 1:15pm - Just went off 200 metres down the road... didn't hear an explosion just started to hear tons of ambulances and fire engines and police started arriving.
Lignende tråde