Article 80

Volunteers, rangers hurt in bomb blast

Yala _ A bomb exploded near the entrance to the city pillar in Yala yesterday, injuring two para-military rangers and seven security volunteers.

Fifteen rangers and volunteers came on a pick-up truck which was parked outside the pillar when the blast occurred. The team was providing security at a fair being organised to honour the pillar.

The home-made bomb went off shortly after the rangers and volunteers left the truck. Two people were seriously injured. They were admitted to the Central Yala Hospital.

Police said the bomb may have been planted on the road surface waiting for the truck to park over it, and not thrown at the vehicle as thought earlier. The impact caused heavy damage to the truck.

Meanwhile, a worker at an ice-making factory was seriously wounded when armed men opened fire on him in Bannang Sata district yesterday. Phut In-kham, 41, was attacked around midnight when men stormed the factory where he worked. He was shot in the left hand and his leg.