Pattaya Daily News

Published : October 06, 2010 :: 12:10:19 [ 3,247 views ]

A large bomb has been detonated in Bangkok on Tuesday evening, initial reports suggesting that the device may have been detonated by accident while under construction. Along with a significant amount of collateral damage, three people have been confirmed dead while at least nine others have been injured in the incident.

Nonthaburi, the 6^th of October 2010: The bomb was detonated in a second-floor room of a residential building in the Bang Bua Thong area of Nonthaburi, just north of Bangkok. The device destroyed a considerable section of the five-floor Samanmettha Mansion while surrounding buildings and several vehicles were also damaged in the incident.

The room in which the explosive device is believed to have been detonated, room 202, is leased to a Mr. Samai Wongsuwan from Thailand’s northeastern province of Chiang Mai. At present, it is unconfirmed whether Mr. Wongsuwan was present at the time of the explosion, which killed three and has left nine others wounded. Nonthaburi is one of four provinces, including Bangkok, where the government’s state of emergency decree is still in place

Initial investigations suggest that a large amount of explosive materials and bomb-making equipment was present in room 202 at the time of the explosion, with authorities speculating that a bomb or bomb/s were in the process of being manufactured at the location.

Immediately following the 6:30pm explosion, National Police Chief General Wichean Potephosree and Acting National Police Chief General Panupong Singhara Na Ayutthaya were present on the scene, in what is the largest most devastating attack to have hit Bangkok, since the May 19 violence and arson attacks earlier this year.

No links to the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) or Red Shirt movement have been made by authorities, who are reluctant to comment on the situation prior to the conclusion of investigations. At the time of writing the Explosive Ordinance Department (EOD), civil engineers and police inspectors where examining the scene for evidence.

Police spokesman Major-General Prawut Thavornsiri revealed that authorities had found significant evidence to believe that the room had been used to manufacture bombs and that the explosion occurred during the construction of one such device.

A press conference on the incident and resultant investigations is expected to be held sometime today (Wednesday).

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Type : Thailand News
Story : John Weston
Photo : Internet

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