One soldier and five civilians were injured when an explosive device hidden inside a motorcycle exploded in Narathiwat’s Muang district early Friday morning.
Pol Sub-Lt Thitipong Srisongmuang, duty officer at Muang Narathiwat police station, said that the explosion occurred about 5.50am at the fresh market on Phuphaphakdee road of Muang Narathiwat municipality.
Witnesses told police that a teenager arrived at the morning market on the motorcycle, in which was hidden and estimated 5 kilogrammes of explosive. He parked the vehicle in front of the market near a pickup truck used by of soldiers guarding the market, and then walked into the crowd and disappeared.
Story continues below.
Police inspect the scene after the bomb.
Five minutes later the bomb went off, injuring a soldier and five civilians, one of whom was in critical condition. They were taken to Narathiwat Ratchanakarin hospital.
The bomb victims are;
1) Sompong Woonpuan, 66, seriously wounded
2) Hathaichanok Sae Ngum, 39
3) Amporn Palanuwat, 60
4) Chantawee Sae Lao, 42
5) Chittra Anothai, 60, and
6) Pvt Jesada Dejpala, 23
The explosion also damaged six motorcycles and two pickup trucks parked nearby.
Police blamed separatist militants.
The bomb attack came the day after National Security Council (NSC) secretary general Lt Gen Paradorn Pattanathabutr signed a peace talks agreement with Hassan Taib, identified as the "chief of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) liaison office in Malaysia".
The agreement was signed on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur.