Five policemen were wounded, one of them seriously, by a bomb explosion while they were travelling on a pickup truck in Pattani’s Nong Chick on Tuesday night, reports said.

About 9pm, Pol Sub-Lt Somchai Phumphanang, duty officer at Nong Chick police station, received a report that a police operations base inside Wat Ban Rai in tambon Bang Tawa was attacked by gunmen and had asked for reinforcements, the reports said.

He and four other police officers then boarded the pickup truck and rushed to the scene.

As their vehicle was crossing Khlong Yuyong bridge on Pattani-Hat Yai highway at Moo 3 in tambon Yuyong of Nongchick, a home-made bomb hidden inside a motorcycle parked on the bridge exploded.

The police pickup was wrecked and all five policemen were injured in the explosion. They were all taken to Nong Chick hospital.

Pol Sub-Lt Roengchai Saengchansiri was seriously wounded and was forwarded to Pattani provincial hospital.

It was reported that no police were hurt in the outpost that was attacked.

Police blamed separatist militants.