PUBLISHED : 7 Aug 2023 at 04:30
Police are looking for those responsible for the bombings which took place in Narathiwat’s Sungai Kolok district and Yala’s Muang district on Saturday night.
No one was hurt by the blast in Sungai Kolok, but the explosion in Yala injured two passers-by, police said yesterday.
The injured victims were identified as Phimlaphat Silarot, 22, and Sapina Samaeng, 22.
They were taken to a nearby hospital following the blast, and as of yesterday both were still there, police said, before adding the pair told investigators that they noticed nothing unusual prior to the blast.
Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) units have combed the area for evidence.
The blast in Narathiwat, meanwhile, happened about 40 metres from a temporary security checkpoint in Moo 1, tambon Pasemat in Sungai Kolok district.
Investigators believe the bombing was carried out by multiple suspects, each with a different role, said Pol Col Pratchaya Baite, chief of Sungai Kolok police.
The first team drove the car containing the improvised explosives to a railroad crossing near the checkpoint. They were followed by a second team, which shot at the checkpoint to cause confusion.
The third team, meanwhile, picked up the first team after they parked the car at the crossing.
However, only one of the two bombs in the car, believed to have been made in neighbouring Malaysia, exploded, he said. The other fell off the car as a result of the explosion and landed on the rail track.
The undetonated bomb was retrieved by an EOD team yesterday morning, he said.
The police were also looking for the owner of the Songkhla-registered Toyota used in the bombing, he said, adding the vehicle wasn’t reported missing.