YALA -- A bomb disposal squad working in extremely hazardous conditions defused a car bomb that was driven into a petrol station on Wednesday evening and the pump attendant told to "fill it up".
Nurisa Salae, 30, told police that two young men wearing women's clothes drove the Mazda Fighter pickup truck with Pattani licence plates into the "Quality 100" petrol station in Moo 6 village of tambon Kayu Boko, Raman district, about 6pm.
The two told her to fill the tank. While she was occupied doing so, they ran across the road to a waiting motorcycle driven by another young man. The motorcycle then sped off with all three of them aboard in the direction of tambon Asong, Ms Nurisa said.
The police were quickly informed. A bomb disposal team was rushed to the petrol station.
The found a bomb made from a 15-kilogramme gas cylinder on the back seat of the passenger cab. The device was set up to be detonated remotely. The bomb squad managed to defuse it, knowing it could be detonated while they worked on it - with devastating consequences. (continues below)
Bomb disposal officers examine the stolen pickup truck and find a bomb containing in a cooking gas cylinder inside at a petrol station in Yala. (Photo by Maluding Deeto)
Police said the pickup used in the failed attack had false number plates. It was stolen from employees of a shop producing steel roofing during a holdup on a road at Ban Thung Kha in tambon Lam Mai of Yala's Muang district on July 26. One of the employees was killed and two others wounded in the robbery.
Authorities at the time expressed concern the vehicle could be intended for use as a car bomb in the lead up to Sunday's referendum.
Bomb disposal officers defuse the bomb stuffed inside a cooking gas cylinder in Raman district of Yala on Wednesday evening. (Photo by Maluding Deeto)
Explosives and electronic circuitry found inside the cooking gas cylinder after the bomb was successfully defused in Yala's Raman district on Wednesday evening.